ESPN now considers Halo an extreme sport, adds it to the X Games in Aspen

By Gabe Gurwin January 21, 2016

halo x games — Image used with permission by copyright holder

ESPN has finally begun to embrace eSports, and after showcasing Heroes of the Storm, the network even launched a section of its site devoted entirely to gaming. But it looks like the sports giant’s jump into competitive gaming is about to get even bigger, as it will be featuring the Halo World Championship during its famous X Games in Aspen.

Over the course of three days, eight teams — six American, one British, and one German — will compete at X Games Aspen in “The Gaming Shack.” $30,000 is up for grabs in prize money, and while the event “will not contribute points or change placements for the regional finals,” it will be a part of X Games coverage on ESPN, just like any other sport.

“Gaming plays a big role in the youth culture,” says ESPN’s Tim Reed while presumably wearing a “Music Band” t-shirt. “The Halo World Championship Tour: X Games Aspen Invitational nicely complements the world-class action sports competition and musical elements at the X Games.”

Of course, what probably would have made sense for competitive gaming at the X Games (though, admittedly, not the winter version) is an entry in the Tony Hawk franchise. The skater has remarkable history at the Games, including completing the first recognized 900, but the horrendous quality of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 most likely means this won’t happen. Maybe they’ll give Ride or Shred a try, instead.

This level of eSports commitment was exactly what former ESPN host Colin Cowherd was apparently afraid of. He recently published a video clip from his show on his YouTube channel titled “eSports is for booger-eaters.” Although he threatened to leave ESPN after the network began airing coverage of games like Heroes of the Storm, he was fired after making racist comments toward Dominican baseball players back in July.

The Halo Wold Championship at X Games Aspen takes place from January 28 through January 31.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

You can get a month of Xbox Game Pass for $1 right now

A tv shows the new Xbox Game Pass that comes to Samsung Gaming Hub soon.

If you aren't currently signed up for Xbox Game Pass, you can currently get your first month for $1. The deal only applies to Game Pass Ultimate and its PC version, though, as the console-only version is still at its full price.

Early in the Xbox Game Pass era, Microsoft would offer $1 onboarding deals for the service. The trick helped the company build a massive user base early on, but it has moved away from that cheap deal in recent years as the service has become a household name with gamers. It's finally available again for anyone who's been waiting for a reason to subscribe, though it's not as eye-popping a deal as it once was.

Gaming

This console generation isn’t about games or hardware. It’s about services

A character stands below a ship in Starfield.

It’s been over two years since the start of the current console generation, which launched with a rocky start at the end of 2020. You'd think it's been more than long enough to understand what it's all about, but for many, there's still confusion. That might be changing this year. As Tomas Franzese wrote earlier this month, 2023 could be the year where we finally see what games define this generation’s consoles, at least in terms of exclusives. He also noted that games could stop being cross-platform, launching on just current-gen consoles instead of simultaneously on last-gen ones.

While that'll finally give us some memorable games, it doesn't bring us closer to defining the hardware itself. Besides a few extra teraflops and new ultra-fast SSDs, there isn’t much that helps the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S stand out from their predecessors. Sure, the PS5 looks like a giant spaceship, and the Xbox Series X is built like a fridge, but we didn’t know what these devices could offer that the PS4 and Xbox One couldn’t besides some pretty lighting effects and virtually non-existent loading times.

Gaming

The Xbox Series X games with the best graphics

Two players ride horses in Far Cry 6.

Ever since the original Xbox hit the market to compete with PlayStation, the two systems have more or less been at a graphical stalemate. Yes, the Xbox One suffered slightly behind the PS4, but with this generation, Microsoft decided to split the difference and offer players two choices for jumping into next-gen. There's the Xbox Series S, which can run every game the X can, only at slightly lower visual fidelity, while the Xbox Series X makes no sacrifices in terms of graphics or performance.

Despite having an uneven release schedule from first-party studios, the Xbox Series X has built up an impressive library of visually stunning games. Many games here could even be mistaken for real-life footage or images, and yet they're fully playable on this powerful console. Showing off what your new console can push out visually is always a treat, so if you're looking for a handful of games that will make any onlooker's jaw drop, here are our picks for some of the Xbox Series X games with the best graphics.