'Halo 5: Guardians' Announced Exclusively for Xbox One, Coming Fall 2015
Announced this morning for the Xbox One game console was Halo 5: Guardians, the next milestone iteration in the Xbox-exclusive franchise, Halo. This game is being developed by 343 Industries, Microsoft’s primary Halo franchise developer, responsible for Halo 4 – but comprised of many folks who’ve worked on Halo games since the beginning.
Halo 5: Guardians is set to release in fall 2015 for the Xbox One exclusively, and as 343 Industries’ general manager Bonnie Ross touts it, it’s a “massive and exciting project.”
“Halo 5: Guardians is a bigger effort than Halo 4, Ross claimed in this morning’s announcement.
“That applies to the content and scope of the game, as well as the technology in what’s now a brand new and more powerful engine. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we’ve invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One’s hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen.”
Halo 5: Guardians will “incorporate the things we learned from Halo 4 about technology, aesthetics, performance and scale — more importantly, understanding and embracing a community of gamers who love what lies at the heart of this game, and the limitless potential of the Halo universe.”
Technically, this new Halo game was announced nearly one year ago at E3 2013, but wasn’t officially titled or detailed until now. Also technically, the game will run “at a blistering 60 frames per second,” making it the first Halo game to truly do so.
Ross was quick to also cover the tracks made at E3 last year, when she announced that there would be a continuation of Halo in 2014, not fall 2015.
“Many fans noted that I was very deliberate with my phrasing on stage at E3 last year. I spoke about a ‘journey,’ rather than a destination, and that journey definitely begins in 2014 with a giant leap, rather than one small step.”
What that giant leap means for Halo and its players in still unclear, but you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll hear more at E3 in just a few short weeks.