A modder got Halo: Combat Evolved running natively on Nintendo Switch without cloud streaming

Halo on Nintendo hardware has always felt like one of those “never gonna happen” crossover fantasies, but a modder just went ahead and did it anyway. Halo: Combat Evolved is now running natively on a Switch, no cloud streaming, no weird workaround, just straight-up gameplay on Nintendo’s handheld. And the wild part is how smooth it looks. This isn’t a proof‑of‑concept hack that barely boots, and it’s shockingly playable.

This would have been considered rather blasphemous a few years ago, but now it feels par for the course, especially with a Halo game expected to arrive on PlayStation this year, well, that is, unless Xbox changes strategies. Whilst this isn’t anything official, but rather what I (incorrectly) presumed was the result of the recent release of Proton 11 beta.

Proton 11, for those unaware, is Valve’s latest version of its compatibility layer, which allows Windows games to run on Linux. In this latest beta, Valve has added support for ARM64, meaning ARM-based devices can now run Windows games too.

YouTuber and modder @Generalkidd showed on X (formerly Twitter) Halo: Combat Evolved running on the original Nintendo Switch, a console that has long been known for its modding potential. Users have previously installed Linux on the hardware to get software running that normally wouldn’t, including early attempts at running Steam.

I assumed that, given that the Nintendo Switch is an ARM-based console, using Proton 11 beta was how Halo was running on the console; however, I was quite wrong on that.

Instead, @Generalkidd took a different approach to get Halo: Combat Evolved running on the Nintendo Switch, and in doing so, caught the attention of Halo Studios’ Community Director. Responding with a GIF that says “I like you, but you’re crazy,” playfully acknowledging just how weird it is to see Halo on a Nintendo Switch.

To get the game running, @Generalkidd is using the original Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved through an ARM64 build of Xemu, an original Xbox emulator. Performance isn’t great at the moment, but the fact that it runs at all is really impressive.

I actually have a modded Nintendo Switch. I set it up a while back so I could remote play from my Xbox in bed, before I had anything like an Xbox Ally X, and it worked quite well for that use case.

That said, I can’t see myself jumping through the hoops needed to get the original Halo: Combat Evolved running on my Switch. That’s just me, though, so let me know whether you’d do something as crazy as this or if, like me, you prefer watching others take on projects like this.

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