The 20-year anniversary of Halo is soon upon us, and Xbox is celebrating with a special promotional image capturing the evolution of its long-running FPS sci-fi series. The original Halo: Combat Evolved was released on the first Xbox as part of its launch in 2001 and set a new standard for first-person shooters on consoles, becoming well regarded as one of the most influential games ever made.
Since then, Halo has blossomed into a massively successful franchise with numerous sequels, spin-offs, and tie-in media, even inspiring fan-works like Rooster Teeth's Red Vs. Blue machinima series. The main games told the story of the Master Chief, a legendary Spartan super-soldier that worked alongside an AI named Cortona to defeat the Covenant, a malevolent alien race looking to annihilate humankind – though the pair would soon find themselves dealing with other threats such as the parasitic Flood and the monstrous Gravemind.
Earlier today, Xbox posted a special message for Halo fans, looking back at the history of the series in preparation for the 20th anniversary of both the Halo series and Xbox, in general, this year. The planned festivities and merchandise for this milestone celebration include a wave of special anniversary merchandise on the Xbox gear shop, special events at this year's Xbox FanFest, and a special #Xbox20 hashtag for use on social media. Xbox also included a jaw-dropping CGI mural depicting the various forms Master Chief has taken over the years, as well as his numerous enemies.
In addition to celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Halo franchise will be moving forward in 2021 with the release of Halo Infinite. Originally scheduled to launch alongside the Xbox Series X last November, Infinite was delayed to allow for more fine-tuning of its poorly-received graphics - but not before a number of its previously planned promotional tie-ins were implemented. Fans will get their first taste of this newly-revamped gameplay sometime this summer, before the game itself is set to launch for real at an unspecified later date.
In the meantime, Xbox is going all out in celebrating not only its own brand but the Halo franchise during its 20th anniversary this year. This is made most apparent in the promotional art that was released today, which shows aspects from the entire series in a striking mural. It is just the beginning of what fans should expect from Xbox as Halo’s 20th anniversary carries on throughout 2021.
Source: Xbox