Microsoft has released a new Christmas commercial which shows some dogs frolicking through some of its biggest titles and, most notably, defeating iconic Halo mascot Master Chief. The use of Master Chief in promotional material for the holidays is a bold move from Microsoft, since his newest game, Halo Infinite, was notoriously delayed into 2021, robbing the Xbox Series X of a major launch title. Worse, it's been spending the months since its delay steadily losing major developers.
Despite the struggles of Halo Infinite, the holiday season is still a big time for Microsoft. This holiday season is particularly important, as it has seen the release of the Xbox Series X. The new machine boasts a number of technical advantages over its predecessor, the Xbox One, including better graphics and near-instant loading times. The next-gen tech has been so desperately coveted that retailers can't keep it in stock; the new consoles sell out within minutes, if not seconds, of appearing online, due in no small part to scalpers who program bots to fill their carts unreasonably quickly. One such scalper recently had an order of thousands of Series X consoles cancelled because they bragged online.
Of course the Series X is just one product for Microsoft to market this holiday season. A recent trailer released by the company on Twitter takes a unique but endearing approach to selling its wares using canine companions. The trailer opens with a mopey dog watching as all of his owners enjoy their favorite Microsoft products and pay little attention to him. The hound then drifts off to sleep and dreams, not of his owners spending more time with their pet, but of getting to enjoy Microsoft technology himself. The trailer sees this dreaming dog holding a Microsoft Teams meeting with his friends, flying a biplane in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and even enjoying a beautiful dog-themed Minecraft world. He also pays Master Chief a visit and finds the iconic space marine locked in brutal combat. Master Chief throws a grenade but the dog and his friend, seeing this as a game of fetch, brings it right back to him and then walk away, leaving the poor space hero to his fate.
Though it's played for laughs, the inevitable detonation of Master Chief is still a somewhat jarring thing to fit into this whimsical dog montage. And it is still quite strange to see the space marine appear in a trailer given the delay of his next major game. On the other hand, though, there is some Halo news worth advertising; last month, Halo 4 was finally added to the PC version of the Master Chief Collection, completing the collection on the PC. The dog's owner was clearly enjoying a Halo experience on the Series X, and was therefore likely not advertising the Master Chief Collection, but the fact remains that the gaming market has plenty of Halo opportunities for the interested gamer.
As this trailer clearly shows, Microsoft has a lot of products to offer. The Series X might be impossible to come by for any but the most dedicated fan, but Microsoft is keen to show fans that they can enjoy their favorite video games on PC, on tablet, or, apparently, in their dreams. Hopefully, just like this dog, Halo Infinite fans can dream away the wait until the new game hits shelves.
Source: Microsoft