14 DAY TRIAL // Halo 5: Guardians has managed a successful launch, with no major technical or gameplay-related problems, and the development team at 343 Industries and publisher Microsoft are now ready to offer more details about the competitive future they are planning for the shooter.
The World Championship is the first big occasion for the best players to show off their skills and the two companies are saying that the grand finals will take place in March 2016, but the qualifying process is set to kick off in about a month.
Dedicated competitions will be held all over the world in what will be the biggest competition in the history of the franchise, and 343 Industries explains on the official site that the aim is to take all interested teams and then select the best 16 to create a very competitive final.
The Halo 5: Guardians World Championships will feature the best eight teams coming from North America, four coming from a unified region that includes Europe, Middle East, and Africa, two teams from Australia and New Zeeland, and one each from Asia and Latin America.
The prize pool that the tournament offers has also reached 1.5 million dollars (1.3 million Euro) at the moment, with a third of the money coming from the revenue generated by gamers who are buying REQ packs for the multiplayer modes.
Microsoft and 343 Industries are saying that they expect the total to climb a lot before the finals of the World Championship, making the competition one of the most exciting for fans of eSports.
Halo 5: Guardians had a big launch, the first update is coming
Microsoft says that the release of the new Master Chief adventure has managed to break records for the series and has generated record revenue, with Phil Spencer, the leader of the Xbox division, saying that the player community should be congratulated for its engagement with the title.
More than 9 million hours have been logged into the multiplayer of Halo 5: Guardians so far, and gamers seem to mostly appreciate the tweaks made to the core mechanics, especially for the more competitive Arena.
The new Warzone is praised for its complex mechanics and big fights, but the REQ system has been criticized for offering some pay-to-win options to gamers willing to spend real world money.
343 Industries says that it is currently tracking a number of issues linked to Halo 5: Guardians and is listening to player feedback while gathering its own data, with a focus on fair and balanced multiplayer.
A big update for the shooter is being created and will probably arrive before the end of November, although no clear set of changes has been announced yet.
Gamers should also soon get access to the Big Team Battle mode and the maps associated with it.
In December, just as World Championship qualifying kicks off, the development team also plans to launch the Forge for Halo 5: Guardians, giving fans a simple way to create their own content for the game and share it.