Welcome back, Halo fans! If you’ve managed to put down the controller from your Campaign Evolved playthrough to read this blog we say thank you for playing and thank you for reading! In case you’re new here, you can see all the prior blogs you may have missed: 

• June Update
• May Update
• March Update
• February Update
• January Update
• December Update

Before we jump into the news, a reminder for those participating in the ForgeHub Halo Fest contest: the submission deadline is August 10!

You can read more about it at ForgeHub.com:

Let's play Halo! Earlier this year we announced that $50,000 will be up for grabs in open tournaments for fans to compete over and today we’re providing a breakdown of what to expect. Like with fans of Lore, there are also competitive fans who love to watch and compete, and we wanted to make sure they had a place in the venue they could call home as well while providing opportunities for anyone to play Halo and win prizes! 

Here are the featured Open Competitions taking place at Halo Fest:

• Halo Infinite: 4v4 - $20,000
• Halo Infinite: FFA - $10,000
• Halo Infinite: 2v2 - $3,500
• Halo 5: Guardians: 2v2 - $2,500
• Halo 3: 4v4 - $2,750
• Halo 3: 2v2 - $3,500
• Halo 2: 4v4 - $2,750
• Halo: CE: 2v2 - $2,500

These tournaments are all free to enter for all attendees.

One thing we want to touch on specifically was the Halo Infinite 4v4. If you’ve competed at HCS events, typically Open Brackets of that magnitude require the purchase of a team pass to enter the tournament. Considering Halo Fest sold out before this information released, we’ve decided to open up 16 team passes for the HCS community to secure ahead of the event. The Team Passes won’t go on sale until November, but today we’re sharing more information about how they will be sold.

It’s important to us that these team passes are for the competitive community specifically, and not for GA fans who missed out on getting GA tickets and are now looking for ways to just get into Halo Fest with no interest in competing in this 4v4. Each team pass will allow entry for 4 competitors and 1 coach into Halo Fest.

Here’s how it will work:

• Team Passes will be sold in November, 4-6 weeks before the event.
• Closer to Halo Fest, there will be a sign-up page where teams can register for Halo Fest. Teams will be invited to purchase a team pass in order of most HCS Points earned.
• The team you sign up with will be considered your Halo Fest roster. Once a team purchases a Team Pass, that roster is considered locked.
• We will go down the points list, team by team until Team Passes are sold out.
• A Team Pass gives full access to Halo Fest, including competing in other open competitions in addition to the Halo Infinite 4v4.
• Team Passes are not transferable.

For more information, please keep it locked to @HCS on socials and check out the competition page below!

We’re just about 5 months away from the big celebration! While we still have some announcements we’re working on, you’ll soon start to see news in these blogs geared towards more informational details like schedules, how to watch online from home, onsite logistics, and more. Thanks everyone for your continued support of Halo!

Thanks,

Tashi