Bungie Expects 3 Million Gamers for Halo: Reach Beta

By Ryan Fleming April 21, 2010

Bungie’s latest – and likely final – entry into the best-selling Halo series is looking for help. All you have to do is want to play one of the most anticipated games of the year for free.

Beta testing begins on May 3 for the multiplayer portion of the new title, Halo: Reach, and Bungie community manager Brian Jarrad told the Seattle Times that he is expecting upwards of 3 million users.

“My expectation is it could be upwards of 3 million people. I think that’s a fairly conservative estimate,” he told the newspaper. “Certainly there will never be a console beta of this magnitude,” he said in the article.

The game is not due out until September 1, but the hype for Halo: Reach has been growing steadily. The first teaser trailers debuted at E3 last June, and the anticipation increased when gamers that purchased Halo: ODST in September of last year found an invitation to be part of the upcoming beta testing.

Gamers will be able to try out several new game types, new maps, and new weapons, while looking for bugs in the multiplayer modes. The Bungie staff will keep tabs on what works and what doesn’t, then make any necessary adjustments before the game is released in the fall. The beta will be global, but Jarrod expects the majority of the gamers to come from North America.

Jarrod also confirmed that this is likely the last Halo game to come from creators Bungie. “The goal is to make the definitive ‘Halo’ experience. For all intents and purposes we probably won’t revisit the ‘Halo’ universe again as a company. Our next game is definitely not ‘Halo’; it’s something totally new.”

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

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