What Is the Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition?

Xbox 25th Anniversary

Published 8 June 2026 · CHEEVO

The 2004 Halo Special Edition Xbox console with its translucent green, unmistakable, case, bundled with a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved, wasn't just another console. It launched at the height of the Xbox and Halo frenzy. And now, with the reveal of the Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition, Microsoft has brought that feeling back.

Announced at the Xbox Games Showcase on 7 June 2026 as part of the 25th anniversary of the original Xbox, the Series X25 is a translucent OG green console with the iconic Xbox "X" lit up green as a direct nod to the original Xbox startup screen. It lands in November 2026 and if you're a Halo fan, it arrives alongside the most significant event in the franchise's recent history.

Watch the launch video below.

What Was the Original Translucent Halo Xbox Console?

To understand why the Series X25 is so amazing, you need to go back. The original Xbox Halo Special Edition dropped in 2004 as one of the first ever limited-edition Xbox consoles with approximately 200,000 units produced. It came in translucent green, with a matching controller and a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved Game of the Year Edition tucked inside the box.

It was the console of a generation, matched with the game of a generation. It spawned a two decades of Halo, and fans that remained loyal from day one.

Sealed examples now sell at auction houses for hundreds of pounds making it a must-have physical item for serious video game collectors that is now irreplaceable. 

When Does Halo: Campaign Evolved Come Out?

Here's what makes the Series X25 more than a beautiful piece of hardware: Microsoft didn't drop it in isolation. They dropped it alongside the announcement that Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on 28 July 2026.

Campaign Evolved is a full remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. This is the original game that shipped inside that 2004 green console, built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. with a three-mission prequel story arc called Operation: METEORITE, following Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson on a clandestine mission aboard a Covenant research vessel, set a year before the original game's events. 

For a Halo fan, this is the year everything comes full circle. The franchise is inviting you to return to where it all started. And it's giving you the hardware to match.

What Is the Difference Between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: Campaign Evolved?

Halo: Combat Evolved is the original. Released in 2001 alongside the first Xbox, developed by Bungie and is the game that defined what console first-person shooters could be.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is not a remaster of that game. It's a reimagining of its story, rebuilt from scratch in Unreal Engine 5 by Halo Studios. The levels have been redesigned and new missions have been added. 

The other significant difference: Combat Evolved was an Xbox exclusive. Campaign Evolved is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5. For the first time, this story is available to everyone, which, for a game this foundational to gaming history, feels like the right call.

Why Is the Xbox Series X25 More Than Just a Console Release?

Limited-edition hardware lives and dies by what it represents. The best ones aren't just good-looking machines they're physical markers of a moment in time. The 2004 Halo Xbox captured something real: the height of Halo's cultural dominance, the era of LAN parties and 10pm starts, the feeling that Xbox had just arrived and was here to stay.

The Series X25 is reaching for that same thing. Not nostalgia for nostalgia's sake but a genuine reconnection with both the fans of the original, and the new players of today. 

For Halo fans specifically, the combination of the Series X25 and Campaign Evolved in the same window is rare. It's not often that the hardware and the software line up this neatly. That 2004 bundle worked because the console and the game told the same story. This is the 2026 version of that moment, even if they're a few months apart.

Should You Buy the Xbox Series X25 as a Collector?

The 2004 Halo Special Edition is worth real money today precisely because so few people treated it as something worth preserving at the time. The sealed copies and the ones that survived are extremely sought after.

The Series X25 will likely be the same. It marks a limited production run, a specific moment in Xbox history and a design that references one of the most beloved games ever made.