You ever just get that gut feeling that something big is coming? If you’ve worked in the gaming industry as long as I have, you tend to just randomly think, “yeah, that’s definitely happening soon.” The thought might come to you while browsing through your older collection of games, when someone else mentions a big franchise, or when you’re scrub-a-dub-dubbing in the shower. Today, that thought is a Halo 6 reveal coming in the next couple of months.
Note: This article is speculative only. We are not claiming to have any official Halo 6 news, we are making educated estimations and speculating about the next Halo game.
Why We Should Expect a Halo 6 Announcement
Now, Halo 6 seems like the obvious step for Microsoft here in 2018 for quite a few reasons. First, there are typically 2-3 years between mainline Halo games, and with the last Halo game (Halo 5) releasing in 2015, it would make sense that Microsoft will have a big Halo 6 reveal at this year’s E3. Secondly, we know that the Xbox One is currently super light on console exclusives in comparison to its biggest competitor, the PlayStation 4.
Plus, we now know that Microsoft is working on the next Master Chief adventure, which we recently learned from an update about the Master Chief Collection being updated. In that update, 343 noted that the focus on updating MCC didn’t mean that anything would be taken away from the production of the ‘next Master Chief adventure’.
On top of that, I think it’s safe to say that Microsoft wanted to focus on pushing the Xbox One X out of the door as fast as they could so that the mega publisher could begin shifting their focus to software. And now that the Xbox One X is out, 2018 is the time for Microsoft to try and make some waves with some big software.
How could they make any sort of splash at E3? Well, first, new IP, which we have to imagine that they’ve got something new to share. Secondly, a sixth entry in the mainline Halo series.
When You Should Expect It
As far as the timing of the actual Halo 6 reveal is concerned, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the game revealed in May with a reveal event, as those seem to be the new hot way to reveal a big game (as we’ve seen with Call of Duty, Battlefield, and other big games. What I’m guessing is that Microsoft could potentially host a live Halo 6 reveal stream that will basically just debut the announcement trailer and give minor story details.
Then, obviously, we’ll get a big information dump for the game at E3 2018, with 343’s Bonnie Ross on stage, filling in the holes by giving us more details (as well as a multiplayer gameplay reveal, likely).
Release Date
But when we’re talking about the actual Halo 6 release date, well that’s when things could get a bit tricky. Typically speaking, mainline Halo games are a Fall release, with Halo 5 releasing in late October 2015. Here are all of the previous mainline Halo release dates:
- Halo: Combat Evolved: November 15, 2001
- Halo 2: November 9, 2004
- Halo 3: September 25, 2007
ODST : September 22, 2009 - Halo 4: November 6, 2012
- Halo 5: October 27, 2015
Unless Microsoft has some other major franchise secretly planned for a Fall 2018 that we don’t yet know about, we can pretty much bank on Halo 6 releasing in Fall 2018. And, again, I’d pencil it in for somewhere in early November as well (the first Tuesday in the month is November 6th).
What We Should Expect From Halo 6
I think one thing we can bank on is that Microsoft is going to change up the typical Halo multiplayer formula that we’ve been given time and time again (not that there’s anything wrong with past multiplayer Halo). With other big FPS franchises changing things up with their multiplayer modes (like Call of Duty and Battlefield 1, in particular), it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see 343 Industries throws us some sort of curveball with the next Halo game. What that curveball might be is going to be is beyond me, but I’m expecting something radical – either a radical new mode or a completely new type of setting.
Halo Battle Royale
The obvious route for 343 to take with the Halo 6 multiplayer would be to go the battle royale route a la PUBG and Fortnite. I know, I know — it’s eye-roll-inducing to many of you reading this. But, the battle royale mode is hot, hot, hot, and I don’t think Microsoft would be content with ignoring it.
That doesn’t necessarily guarantee a Halo Battle Royale, but I could definitely see the Xbox team announcing a Battle Royale mode for Halo 6. And if that’s the case, expect it to be the most popular mode in the upcoming game when it launches.
No Loot Boxes
I’ll also note that it’s highly likely that Halo 6 won’t see any sort of loot boxes in its multiplayer. We learned that with Sea of Thieves, Microsoft gave a strong anti-loot box stance against having loot boxes in their pirate adventure. I think that stance is going to hold true for the foreseeable future of Microsoft’s first party releases, given the extreme negative reactions to loot boxes and microtransactions as of lately.
Story
The toughest aspect of the inevitable Halo 6 for us to make any sort of real prediction about has to be its story, because right now, the Halo universe is pretty much all over the place. We know that Cortana is still “alive” (I mean, how alive can an A.I. really be) and in control of the galaxy, and we’ll likely spend all of Halo 6 bringing her down again — likely for good, this time. Expect to see Master Chief fighting alongside elites again.
Halo 6 PC Version
You can bank on there not only being a Halo 6 on Xbox One, but also a Halo 6 PC version because of Microsoft’s Play Anywhere initiative. Yes, there will be cross-play as well.
Xbox Games Pass
Microsoft has said that ALL of their first party Xbox One exclusives will be included with an Xbox Games Pass subscription. The first game we see that in is Sea of Thieves, and we’ll see it happen again next month when State of Decay 2 launches.
Since all of their Xbox One exclusives are going to be available with an Xbox Games Pass subscription, that means you can expect Halo 6 to hit Games Pass at launch as well.
What’s on YOUR Halo 6 wishlist? Think we’ll see it release in 2018? Sound off in the comments below.
See Also: