HCS announce details of final Halo 5 event and the future of Halo esports

Halo Championship Series has officially confirmed that HCS Finals in Atlanta will be the last Halo 5 event, but has revealed how Halo esports plans to continue until the release of Halo: Infinite.

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Halo 5: Guardians has been played as the primary competitive title for Halo for over three years, with tournaments hosted by ESL and MLG, with over $6,000,000 in prize money handed out.

The world championship events have featured huge prize pools, including the $1.5 million for the 2016 World Championship, inflated through crowdfunding.

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However, players and the community at large voiced discontent with Halo 5 generally, considered by many to be the weakest entry in the Halo franchise, too different to its roots. 

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Following the HCS Finals on November 16, 343 Industries will begin a ‘grassroots’ program, to “support grassroots tournaments and content creators across all Halo titles,” with more info on this coming in the next month.

The main attraction however will be the transition to Halo: Master Chief Collection (MCC) tournaments, with a particular focus on Halo 3, one of the most beloved in the series.

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343 also discussed the future of competitive Halo as it relates to Halo: Infinite, the next main entry in the series. 

“We know there’s a lot of anticipation surrounding Halo Infinite. We’re not ready to pull the curtain back just yet, but the Halo esports team has been working closely with the development team to represent the wants and needs of the ever-evolving esports community in terms of gameplay, features, viewership, and more. 

Halo 5, both as a game and esport, has evolved a great deal over the years with new maps and gametypes, spectator and observer modes, local server, and more – and we’ve learned a tremendous amount along the way. We’re excited to carry our learnings (and industry learnings) forward in Halo Infinite in a more integrated way than ever before here at 343.”

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They also restated their plans for community ‘flighting’ opportunities, where fans will have the chance to the play the game alongside the developers and give direct feedback. 

HCS Finals in Atlanta will take place on November 16-18, with a $300,000 prize pool. Up to 64 teams will compete in the open event, plus there will be a separate 2v2 Showdown tournament on Halo 3.

You can find out full details for the HCS Finals here.

Source: Halo