Microsoft Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Halo Franchise

Written by Brandon Hofer on November 15, 2016

News: Master Chief has been in action for fifteen years now and 343 Industries wants to help you celebrate.

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Halo franchise as well as the 15th anniversary of Xbox itself.. Microsoft and 343 Industries are celebrating in a number of different ways by giving out some Halo 5 items as well as having a live stream. Additionally there is a letter from Bonnie Ross, Head of 343 Industries which you can see below:

”On November 15, 2001, I wasn’t working on Halo. I was working on Zoo Tycoon for the PC and Fuzion Frenzy for Xbox. I remember the E3 before the launch of our first Xbox and Halo: Combat Evolved – prior to that first console release, we were a PC gaming company mainly focused on titles like Flight Simulator, Age of Empires, Golf, and Pandora’s Box, amongst a host of others of course. We showed up at that E3 with a first-person-shooter on our console without a locked framerate – keep in mind that back in the day, the FPS genre was a PC-only domain. Needless to say, industry gossip ensued.

What I love about Halo is it defied the odds on all levels. It brought the FPS to the console. It brought story to the FPS. And in my opinion, it made Xbox relevant (luckily, only my community team edits me so I can say whatever I want here!). Halo: Combat Evolved truly did change the game, and it did so in so many ways. For me it was the Silent Cartographer, the Magnum, the tranquility of my underwater drives in the Warthog, and the unpredicted fun of the Halo sandbox.

As Halo hits its 15-year anniversary, I want to thank Bungie for having initially brought this world and game to life. I want to thank the fans for making Halo their own. And I want to thank our team at 343 for continuing to carry that torch forward. The Halo universe belongs to the community and it is an honor to serve you.

Happy Birthday, Halo!

-b

Bonnie Ross, Head of 343 Industries”

Beginning today at 3:43pm Pacific Time there will be a special Halo livestream at Twitch.tv/Halo to celebrate this anniversary. You will be able to join “Grim” and “Ske7ch” for a behind the scenes invitation to the 343 team celebrating including:

The Halo 5 15th Anniversary REQ Pack

Halo Museum Tour with Frank O’Connor, Joe Staten & Corrinne Robinson

Halo Wars 2 Blitz Mode Interview with Dan Ayoub & Max Szlagor

The Halo 5 “Anniversary Throwback Playlist” with Uny

343 vs. the Community CTF match on a Forge remake of Battlecreek

Unboxing the newest Loot Crate statue with James Monosmith

HCS Las Vegas preview with Tashi & Strongside

As a way of thanking the fans for all of their support over the last 15 years, 343 Industries is giving away a very special Halo 5 REQ Pack. You can log in to Halo 5 any time between now and November 22 to claim the following:

Mark IV Armor & Helmet

4 SPNKRs

4 CE Magnums

4 Halo 2 Beam Rifles

Do you plan on tuning in for the livestream? When did you join the Xbox community? Tell us in the comments section below.

source: Halo Waypoint