Marking the 20th anniversary of the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved on the Xbox, Microsoft dropped a surprise launch of Halo: Infinite's multiplayer today, ahead of the launch of the single-player campaign on December 8 and with it a dedicated trailer.

The single-player campaign has a fairly standard price tag attached. The multiplayer campaign is free-to-play.

This is an interesting approach. If the multiplayer is good it could boost sales of the single-player campaign.

Slightly confusingly they're labelling this multiplayer launch a beta but reassure players that all progress will carry over into the full launch.

We can only assume that their confidence in performance isn't absolute.

The developers have published a very detailed post on Steam about what's in the multiplayer.

Accompanying this is another official trailer for the single-player campaign, about Lightbringers.

Having no experience with or knowledge of Halo, the trailer didn't make much sense to us. Nor did it particularly impress.

Maybe they made this one for fans. There are lots. Halo games have sold more than 81 million copies worldwide.

They also dropped a teaser trailer for the upcoming live-action Halo TV series which will release on Paramount next year.

Even for a teaser, this one is quite stingy. Someone puts on a helmet, seen from behind.

While the trailer didn't blow our socks off, another sci-fi TV series could be a very welcome addition.

Historically, film / TV works based on games haven't been great, eg. World of Warcraft, but Netflix have now produced several very decent animated series based on games and this Halo TV series has an estimated 200 million dollar budget, with Steven Spielburg executive producing.

It should at least be watchable.

Though season one's showrunner, Stephen Kane, has already indicated that he doesn't intend to return in the event of renewal. The series is shot in Budapest and he wants to return to the US for personal reasons.

Given the franchise and the amount of money invested in it, renewal is considered likely.

At the beginning of this year it was slated for Q1 2022 release so we might not have long to wait.

[ Main Image: Halo Infinite screenshot. Credit: Xbox Game Studios via Steam. ]

References

343 Industries. Welcome to the Halo Infinite MP Beta. Steam.

Andreeva, Nellie (February 24, 2021). ‘Halo’ TV Series Moves From Showtime To Paramount+. Deadline.

HALO (November 16, 2021). Halo Infinite | Season 1: Heroes of Reach Launch Trailer. YouTube.

IGN (November 16, 2021). Halo Infinite - Official UNSC Archives: Lightbringers Trailer. YouTube.

IGN Movie Trailers (November 16, 2021). Halo TV Series - Official Teaser Trailer. YouTube.

Otterson, Joe (June 25, 2021). ‘Halo’ Showrunner to Exit Paramount Plus Series After Season 1 (EXCLUSIVE). Variety.

Warren, Tom (November 15, 2021). Microsoft surprises with early Halo Infinite multiplayer launch today. The Verge. 

Wikipedia. Halo (TV series). (viewed November 16, 2021)