Halo 4 gets a launch date
What was once a vague promise of “Holiday 2012” is now a firm date in time. You better hope that your Halloween candy coma doesn’t last too long, because Halo 4 will be released this November 6th. Instead of simply issuing a press release, 343 Industries unveiled the launch date in a way Halo fans are sure to enjoy. Read on for the details.
The November 6 launch date was unveiled earlier today on Halo Waypoint, and was accompanied by a video by longtime Halo comedic cohorts, Red vs. Blue. The video features fan favorites Sarge, Grif, Simmons, Church, and Tucker reacting to the news that we’ve all been waiting for, and can be viewed below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t060JHOI2k
As with all Red vs. Blue videos, this one was filmed using actual Halo in-game assets. What’s interesting about this new video is that it was made using Halo 4’s multiplayer system, and offers the first good look at a brand new armor permutation. Curiously, one thing 343 did not announce today was the numbers of versions of Halo 4 that will be available on launch day. The last two major title in the series came in standard, collectors, and legendary edtitions. It is unclear whether 343 intends to continue the tradtion of Legendary editions, but I think the odds are pretty good.
One other thing worth mentioning about the release date: for the last few years, November has been dominated by Activision’s juggernaut Call of Duty franchise. Past Halo titles have usually been released in September. The exception was last year’s release of Halo: Anniversary, which launched a week after Modern Warfare 3, and barely put a dent in the juggernaut’s sales figures. But it seems like Microsoft is doubling down, targeting Activision once again, this time with a much bigger gun. It will be interesting to see whether Halo 4 has the power to finally knock Call of Duty off the FPS throne. I, for one, am hopeful. If anyone can do it, it’s the Master Chief.
