The first episode of the Halo TV series is free on YouTube

See what all the hubbub is about without committing to Paramount+.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

The Halo TV series,a show withnovibes, has had its first episodeuploaded in fullon the Paramount+ YouTube channel.

It’s a pretty sharp promotional move reminiscent of the mostgenerous demosand free weekends in gaming. I certainly don’t know anyone with a Paramount+ subscription, and wrangling with another streaming app free trial is a big ask if you don’t even know you’ll enjoy the programming on offer.

Now though, you have nothing to lose but 58 minutes and 56 seconds of your precious free time. Tune in for a sort of Lone Wolf and Cub side plot and a reveal 21 years in the making: the Master Chief removing his helmet to reveal he isthis man.

I appreciate the move here from Paramount, and hope to see more like it in the future. We’re facing a veritable deluge of videogame streaming adaptations down the pike, with projects based onFallout,Dungeons & Dragons,Bioshock, and more all in production or pre-production.

It’s looking like there’ll be a lot of videogame-based streaming shows vying for our money and attention, and association with a beloved property isn’t necessarily a guarantee of quality. Making a one-off freebie episode available on YouTube seems like a must to stand out in this crowded field.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister’s copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he’s not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Arcane, Riot’s two-season League of Legends animated series, reportedly cost $250 million to make

It looks like the role of Lara Croft in Amazon’s live-action Tomb Raider show is currently a race between Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner and Bohemian Rhapsody’s Lucy Boynton

The first PUBG spinoff with real promise is a top-down take on Rainbow Six Siege