All of Halo 5’s preorder bonuses can be earned in-game

By Will Fulton June 25, 2015

Halo 5 Guardians — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Spartans who are fretting about where to preorder Halo 5: Guardians, determining which preorder incentives they get, can rest easy: All preorder bonuses can be unlocked in the game through regular play. 343 Industries studio head Josh Holmes confirmed via Twitter the other day that while preorder packages guarantee that you will have those particular weapons, armor, and skins when you start, everything can be earned through regular play, regardless of where you bought the game.

@Wangtim3 ALL unlockable content can be earned by everyone. Preorder just guarantees you have it out of box. No need to earn/unlock in game.

— Josh Holmes (@JoshingtonState) June 23, 2015

This bucks current trends in publishing, wherein the bonus in-game items, skins, and even whole missions with which particular retailers reward customers can only be purchased by other players as DLC some time after release, or are included in a subsequent Game of the Year edition if players want to wait. Players have become increasingly frustrated with the practice as it has trended towards walling off larger and larger sections of the game based on where they purchase it. 343 Industries dialing it back to this model is a refreshing change of pace.

As for the particular bonuses you can look forward to eventually, no matter where you buy it:

GameStop: Spartan Locke Armor Set
Amazon: Projection SMC with Long Barrel
Best Buy: Longshot Assault Rifle with Recoil Compensator
The Microsoft Store: Recon Assault Rifle with Energy Bayonet and the Lagrange Assault Rifle skin
Walmart: Unspecified “Walmart Exclusive Bonus”

Guardians is the latest chapter in Xbox’s flagship saga of power-armored soldiers and aliens jumping around and shooting each other for sport. What started as a Mac-exclusive real time strategy game in 2001 evolved into one of the defining first person shooters of the 21st century, and a pillar of all three Xbox consoles’ libraries. This is 343 Industries’ second original, numbered entry in the franchise, having taken the torch from creator Bungie starting with Halo 4.

Halo 5: Guardians comes exclusively to Xbox One on October 27, 2015.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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