343 Industries threatens to ban illegal testers of Halo: Reach beta on PC

By Aaron Mamiit June 30, 2019

Game developer 343 Industries finally launched beta testing for Halo: Reach on the PC, but it has been distributed illegally, prompting the developer to threaten players with the banhammer.

The first flight for the beta of Halo: Reach for PC, which was initially expected in April, finally started on June 28, and will last only until July 1. According to 343 Industries, there were only a limited number of Halo Insiders who could participate, chosen with varying ranges of hardware running on Windows 10. The developer said that over time, the flights will grow in size as the beta tests expand to other areas of the game.

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“We see the excitement and eagerness from the community to participate in these flights, and we hear you. Just know that we are going to continue to invite more over time and get as many people in and providing feedback as possible but it’s going to take some time so please hang in there,” wrote 343 Industries in a blog post. There are less than 1,000 Halo Insiders involved in the first flight, and they will be playing only one campaign mission.

Unfortunately, it appears that some fans are too eager to catch their first glimpse of Halo: Reach on the PC. In a post on the official Halo forums, 343 Industries acknowledged that the first Halo Insider flight for the game was “illegally distributed online.”

“If you download or play this illegal copy, we have the right to ban all associated accounts and remove you from all current or future 343 programs,” the developer said, issuing a warning to all players illegally testing Halo: Reach on the PC. With just one mission that will last only a few minutes, it seems hardly worth the risk of facing the banhammer.

Halo: Reach will be the first game that will be released for the PC version of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Instead of launching all at once, the contents of the collection will be rolled out in their chronological order in the series’ story, with Halo: Reach to be followed by Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, the Halo 3: ODST campaign, and Halo 4.

Halo 5: Guardians is not available on PC, but the next entry in the series, Halo Infinite, will find its way to the platform and on Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox, currently known as Project Scarlett.

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