Microsoft held a live stream this evening and wound up revealing the future of the Halo franchise. While most thought that the next game in Microsoft’s sci-fi shooter series would be released on Xbox One or PC, it turns out that the next installment will actually be an exclusive to Dave and Buster’s. Titled Halo: Fireteam Raven, the arcade game is a cooperative shooter that will be arriving at the restaurants in summer 2018.
The Halo series has been the face of Xbox gaming ever since Halo: Combat Evolved released for the original Xbox in 2001. Since then, the main series has seen four additional mainline installments, with plenty of high-profile spin-offs in the 15+ years since it debuted. Last year saw the release of Halo Wars 2, a real-time strategy title based within the sci-fi universe. It’s been such an iconic franchise and tied to the Xbox brand that the original Halo was even referenced in State of Decay 2.
Halo: Fireteam Raven will be developed by the veteran arcade studio Raw Thrills in conjunction with Play Mechanix. Up to four players will be able play together in the customized arcade pod and experience first-person gunplay on a 130-inch 4K screen. While it likely won’t play a major part in Halo canon, players will take the role as ODST soldiers that are battling off Covenant soldiers.
It’s certainly easy to laugh about the next Halo game being exclusive to Dave and Buster’s, of all places, but the series’ signature shooting is actually the perfect fit for an arcade experience. Raw Thrills makes some of the best modern day arcade games, and Microsoft doesn’t allow just anyone to handle one of their biggest gaming properties. So, it will probably end up being a quality game, even if this isn’t what Xbox One owners were hoping to be announced.
It does serve as a reminder that a new mainline Halo game is well overdue. The last time Master Chief was seen in action was 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians, and developer 343 Industries has been largely quiet since then (although a small team has been constantly working on Halo: The Master Chief Collection which is getting Xbox One X support in the near future). Perhaps an announcement is coming soon, and with E3 coming up next month, there’s no better time for Microsoft to satisfy fans with a major announcement like Halo 6.
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Source: Inside Xbox (via USGamer)
