Halo Championship Series League Introduction

The Halo Championship Series is the official Halo eSports league, designed to curate a quality experience for pro players, enthusiasts and spectators. The HCS will celebrate Halo’s rich competitive gaming legacy while building an all-new platform for the future of Halo eSports.

We’ll be releasing the official HCS rules in the coming weeks, but for now, here’s a quick look at what the Halo Championship Series is all about.

• The first season of the Halo Championship Series will kick off shortly after the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and run from November (preseason) through March of 2015.
• The official game of the Halo Championship Series is Halo 2: Anniversary.
• Teams of four Spartans will compete in a structured series of online and in-person LAN events.
• All officially sanctioned tournaments (LAN and online) will award HCS points to the top teams.
• HCS LAN event point allocations will be broken down into tiers based on total prize pool and bracket size. For example, a tournament with a $5,000 prize pool will award less points than a tournament with a $25,000 prize pool.
• Several established tournament organizers are already on board, and will be announcing their events shortly. In the coming weeks, additional tournament organizers will be able to apply to become an official HCS sanctioned partner.
• At the end of season 1, teams with the highest HCS point totals will be invited to compete at the HCS season finals in March 2015. More details to be announced.
• In addition to awarding official HCS points, 343 Industries and Twitch look forward to working with and supporting tournament organizers in a variety of ways to ensure the best experience possible for players and fans alike. This includes, but is not limited to financial support, tech support, promotional support, talent and production support, and more.

There’s lots more on the way, and we hope you’re as excited as we are. Tune into the Launch Invitational this weekend at Twitch.tv/Halo to learn more about the Halo Championship Series and what’s ahead for Halo.