Esports

Our aim for Year 2 of HCS with regards to map and mode combinations is to refine the list to respond to player and fan feedback, as well as well provide a platform for competitive and entertaining matches all year long. We believe it’s important that there’s a stable foundation of maps and modes throughout the season, but that we’re also making additions, subtractions, and adjustments as we go. There’s a fine balance here that we believe we struck in Year 1 and we hope to strike again in Year 2 of HCS. 



Below is the list of map and mode combinations for the start of Year 2 of HCS, expect this to evolve as more maps and modes release for Halo Infinite.



<ul><li>Capture the Flag<ul><li>Argyle (New addition for Year 2)</li><li>Empyrean (New addition for Year 2)</li><li>Aquarius</li></ul></li><li>Slayer<ul><li>Empyrean (New addition for Year 2)</li><li>Aquarius</li><li>Live Fire</li><li>Recharge</li><li>Streets</li></ul></li><li>King of the Hill<ul><li>Recharge</li><li>Live Fire</li><li>Streets</li></ul></li><li>Strongholds<ul><li>Recharge</li><li>Live Fire</li><li>Streets</li></ul></li><li>Oddball<ul><li>Recharge</li><li>Live Fire</li><li>Streets</li></ul></li></ul>



We’re excited to see the new additions of Empyrean (The Pit) as well as Argyle be played on the main stage!



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Balance Updates</h2>



Regarding balance updates, we know the competitive community has shared a lot of critical feedback since launch as well as since the most recent updates in November and December 2022. Here’s what we’re working on and when you can expect the updates.



Update 1: Empyrean and Argyle, Tuesday Jan 10. (RANKED / HCS ONLY)



<ul><li>Argyle:<ul><li>CQS48 Bulldog: Replaced with MK50 Sidekick</li></ul><ul><li>VK78 Commandos: The VK78 Commando in each base will become BR75 Battle Rifles</li></ul><ul><li>Fusion Coils: Removed</li></ul></li><li>Empyrean:<ul><li>Fusion Coils: Removed</li></ul><ul><li>Scrap Cannon: Removed</li></ul></li><li>Detachment:<ul><li>Drop Wall: Total charges reduced from 2 to 1</li><li>Fusion Coils: Removed</li></ul></li></ul>



Update 2: Sandbox tweaks, targeted for mid-February ahead of HCS Major Charlotte. 



<ul><li>Ammo Rack Update: <ul><li>In the Ranked Arena playlist and HCS, each Weapon Rack will now be set to a “Red Rack” meaning once a weapon is picked up, the Rack won’t spawn another until the weapon is despawned. </li></ul></li><li>Frag Grenades:<ul><li>Damage radius will be reduced</li></ul></li><li>Drop Weapon mechanic:<ul><li>Speed will be at parity with normal weapon switching.</li></ul></li><li>S7 Sniper Hip Fire:<ul><li>Reduction in random error angle when no-scoping.</li></ul></li></ul>



Update 3: We’re still finalizing all of the changes
we’re looking to make here so please don’t consider these to be 100% final
until we circle back and confirm in February. The soonest that these could release
is Season 3. 



<ul><li>Footstep audio: <ul><li>We adjusting footstep audio to better suit competitive play. Enemies are now harder to hear at distance and easier to hear when very close, and we improved accuracy of enemy location based on footstep audio when enemies are above, below, or behind you. </li></ul></li><li>Mangler: <ul><li>Will vault from competitive. Will undergo a rework in the future before being reintroduced.</li></ul></li><li>Sword: <ul><li>Will vault from competitive. Will undergo finer tuning before reintroducing as well as updated placing on maps better suited for the weapon.</li></ul></li><li>VK78 Commando: <ul><li>Slight retuning to reduce effectiveness. We felt the Winter Update pushed the needle a little too far, tuning again to find the sweet spot.</li></ul></li><li>Spike Grenades: <ul><li>Reducing randomness to alleviate frustration.</li></ul></li><li>Disruptor: <ul><li>Overall, we’re looking to reduce effectiveness and/or utility of the weapon in order to find the sweet spot. </li></ul></li><li>Pulse Carbine: <ul><li>Will vault from competitive, will explore a rework in the future. </li></ul></li><li>Plasma Pistol: <ul><li>Slight retuning to reduce effectiveness in order to find the sweet spot. </li></ul></li><li>Ammo Reduction: <ul><li>For competitive, we’re reducing ammo for Heatwave, Stalker Rifle, CQS48 Bulldog, and Shock Rifle.</li></ul></li></ul>



There will be new additions in Season 3 coming into the game as well as ranked/HCS. These include Shroud Screen equipment as well as the M392 Bandit Rifle. We’re expecting these to have a meaningful impact on the gameplay meta and we can’t wait to see how they all perform in your hands.



Once these updates have been released, our intention is to more quickly respond to player feedback and make smaller tweaks throughout the season that maintain a fine competitive balance rather than waiting longer and having to make much larger tweaks. With regards to timing, our intention is never to pull the rug out from our competitors and make significant updates just before an event. There will be times however where we prioritize ensuring the event is played on as balanced/competitive sandbox as possible and thus may enter moments where players wish they had a bit more time to familiarize themselves with tweaks. Things that we will avoid in that tightened timeframe would be the addition of new maps, new modes, new equipment, new weapons, etc. However, you could see the removal of certain items, or slight adjustments to existing items. As we did with the updates above, we will work to let players and fans know what’s changing and when in order to be more transparent and ensure players can be as prepared as possible.


HCS Year 2 is just around the corner and we can’t wait to see you all at the Kickoff Major in Charlotte on February 24-26. Be on the lookout for tickets to go on sale later this week. For all the latest on the HCS follow <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hcs">@HCS on Twitter</a>.

Official HCS

HCS Year 2 Maps, Modes, and Settings

OPTIC GAMING ARE YOUR 2022 HALO WORLD CHAMPIONS!

Since Halo Infinite’s launch nearly 1 year ago the community has been contributing crowdfunded dollars to the Halo esports ecosystem. Up to this point, nearly $500,000 has already gone directly towards boosting prize pools of official HCS events – and that doesn’t include funds that have gone directly to partnered teams from the sale of cosmetics in their store. This is remarkable. Thank you to everyone who has contributed up to this point. Partway through the season, based on the community feedback, we realized there was an opportunity to use the crowdfunding to have a greater impact on the ecosystem at large, rather than just a few select tournaments. This led us to begin working with partnered teams to see where we could support and the result was boosting the FaZe prize pool to $75,000 back in April, as well as working with eUnited to fund the Grunt Classic tournament that just took place last month. Supporting partnered teams in this way has proven to be a powerful route to take as we can elevate the work that they’re doing, and even fill in gaps in the roadmap with all new tournaments.   



Going forward, we’re going to continue this new philosophy in an effort to bolster the roadmap and add new events all together, rather than boosting what are already very large prize pools. Overall, we believe this holistic approach will result in more opportunities for players, as well as more content and entertainment for fans to watch. Ultimately, we feel this will drive a larger impact across the entire ecosystem, rather than putting so many eggs in one basket. And on top of all this, we’re going to be increasing the HaloWC FFA Prize Pool from $5,000 to $25,000. Finally, with all that said we’re excited to offer our biggest prize pool of the year at HaloWC with $1,000,000 on the line, of which $400,000 goes to first place alone.  







<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48096" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a-1568x1045.jpg 1568w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/10/HaloWC-FFA-Trophy-6349f04493c1a.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>FFA World Championship Trophy awaits its victor</figcaption></figure>



So, what’s next? We’ve already begun working with the partnered teams to add more events to the roadmap and we’ll be sharing more details live at the Halo World Championship, along with initial roadmap details for Year 2 of the Halo Championship Series. Like with Year 1, our aim is to publicly announce the entire Year 2 roadmap before all of the Official HCS competition begins, and we’ll be releasing more info following the Halo World Championship this year.  



Once again, we want to say thank you to everyone in the community that has supported HCS. From the fans, to the players, the teams, and all of our partners – thank you.   



The Halo World Championship begins October 20 with the Play-In Stage of the tournament with the Main Event taking place October 21-23 live from the Seattle Convention Center. We hope you all enjoy the show and for those attending the event, we’ll see you there! To see all the latest HaloWC info including schedule and the full FAQ head to the event page on <a href="https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halowc2022">Halo.gg</a>.

Crowdfunding Approach and Updates

OPTIC GAMING – YOUR $350K HCS ORLANDO CHAMPIONS!

CHIEFS ARE YOUR $50K HCS MELBOURNE 2022 CHAMPIONS!

OPTIC GAMING – $125K HCS NA SUPER CHAMPIONS!

KNIGHTS ARE YOUR HCS MEXICO CITY 2022 CHAMPIONS!

ACEND ARE YOUR HCS VALENCIA 2022 CHAMPIONS!

The first half of the HCS 2022 Season has been full of exciting moments from incredible plays in the game to amazing experiences shared with you all at HCS live events. And if it’s any indication of how the second half of the Season will be, then buckle up because we’re in for a heck of a ride particularly for our last two events the HCS Orlando Major and the Halo World Championship 2022. 



Today we want to pull back the curtain on these events and talk about what you can expect.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="310" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb22049278a-1024x310.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40634" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb22049278a-1024x310.png 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb22049278a-300x91.png 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb22049278a-768x232.png 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb22049278a.png 1447w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Halo World Championship 2022: <a href="https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-world-championship-2022">(Full Event Details)</a>



<ul><li>Venue: Seattle Convention Center (formerly known as Washington State Convention Center) 705 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101</li><li>Date: October 20 – 23 (Spectators allowed October 21-23 only) </li><li>Event Type: World Championship </li><li>Regional Eligibility: Global  </li><li>Broadcast channels: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.twitch.tv/halo/" target="_blank">Twitch</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRlMArGqt607LYdhlrrYVA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> </li><li>Spectator and VIP tickets –Available 6/29 at 10am pt on EventBrite: <a href="https://haloworldchampionship.eventbrite.com">https://haloworldchampionship.eventbrite.com</a> </li><li>Main Tournament Prize Pool: $1,000,000 </li><li>FFA Prize Pool: $5,000</li></ul>



HCS Orlando Major: <a href="https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/Orlando2022">(Full Event Details)</a>



<ul><li>Venue: Orange County Convention Center – 9800 International Drive Orlando, FL 32819</li><li>Date: September 23-25 </li><li>Event Type: Major </li><li>Regional Eligibility: Global  </li><li>Broadcast channels: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.twitch.tv/halo/" target="_blank">Twitch</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRlMArGqt607LYdhlrrYVA" target="_blank">YouTube</a> </li><li>Spectator and VIP tickets: Available 6/29 at 10am pt on EventBrite: <a href="https://hcsmajororlando.eventbrite.com">https://hcsmajororlando.eventbrite.com</a> </li><li>Team Pass – Available August 15 @ 10am pt.</li><li>4v4 Prize Pool: Starts at $250,000 </li><li>FFA Prize Pool: $5,000</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">HALO FEST REBORN</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="610" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb2a4479b32-1024x610.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40648" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb2a4479b32-1024x610.png 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb2a4479b32-300x179.png 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb2a4479b32-768x457.png 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/image-62bb2a4479b32.png 1427w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



At the center of the Halo World Championship experience is the biggest and most prestigious tournament of the year. It’s critically important to us however that the event feel welcome to Halo fans whether you enjoy social multiplayer, the rich story and lore, the epic campaigns, and everything in-between. In spirit, we want the Halo World Championship to feel like a “Halo Fest” or sorts – the destination each year that has something for all Halo fans, where you can play Halo with your friends and family, hear the latest news, and take part in fun activities. 



While we’re still locking in all of the details and what you can expect, here’s a brief glimpse into some of the extra activities taking place at the Halo World Championship that you’ll be able to take part in:



<ul><li>Development panels</li><li>Cosplay Contest</li><li>Artist panels</li><li>Meet and greet with members of 343 Industries </li><li>Partnered team and sponsor booths</li><li>Free Play Halo Infinite LAN stations</li><li>Special guest appearances and signings</li></ul>



This is just the start and in the coming months we’ll be
growing this list and adding the experience. Additionally, we will look to
build on the experience year over year in hope to deliver unforgettable
memories to share as a global Halo community under one roof. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">VIP
EXPERIENCE UPGRADES</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40676" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3-1568x1046.jpg 1568w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-RPgghhh-X3.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



For the event VIPs we are also upgrading the experience in multiple key areas including viewing experience, exclusive commemorative items and experiential opportunities, and much more. 



Here’s what the VIP Experience Includes so far, and we will
be adding to it in the coming months to stay tuned to see the latest!



<ul><li>Dedicated Entry Line at Check-In</li><li>Access to the VIP Lounge and private bar</li><li>Limited Edition VIP Credential</li><li>Exclusive Production Tour on Friday morning with backstage access and onstage photo opportunity.<ul><li>A rundown of the venue and various areas including knowledge and insight on what it takes to get everything set up and working</li></ul><ul><li>The tour ends with an opportunity to get on the main stage for a group photo</li></ul><ul><li>More information will be emailed out closer to the event</li></ul></li><li>Early access to the Free-for-All Competition Check-in (30 minutes before general admission)</li><li>Chance to win Exclusive Surprise Giveaways</li><li>10% off on HCS Apparel and Merchandise</li><li>VIPs will earn the “Grand Finals” exclusive Twitch Drop. (without having to watch Grand Finals on Twitch)</li><li>Early access to merch store on Friday</li><li>Exclusive VIP Swag Bag including HaloWC Poster</li><li>Exclusive VIP Meet and Greet with 343 and Guest Celebrities</li><li>Exclusive chance to win a tour of the 343 Industries studio</li><li>Opportunity to be a judge for the cosplay contest.</li><li>Activity Fast Pass<ul><li>Playable stations</li></ul><ul><li>Signings and panels</li></ul></li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">COSPLAY CONTEST</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="658" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4-1024x658.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-40662" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4-1024x658.jpg 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4-300x193.jpg 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4-768x493.jpg 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4-1536x986.jpg 1536w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4-1568x1007.jpg 1568w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/06/i-ncV4cdS-X4.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



For the first time at an official HCS event we will be hosting a cosplay contest! The Halo community’s creativity and dedication to their craft knows no bounds, and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate. While full rules are still on the way, we wanted signal that the contest was happening as soon as we could so that cosplayers could prepare. Additionally, the contest has a $5,000 prize pool and will feature multiple judging stages from members of 343 Industries and luminaries in the Halo community. 



Be on the lookout for more details in the coming week and months.

Tickets for Orlando Major and HaloWC 2022

HCS PRO SERIES