The ‘Halo 6’ unveiling ‘won’t be soon,’ 343 Industries writer says

By Gabe Gurwin June 19, 2017

Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare

Microsoft put on a fine E3 this year, with Sea of Thieves looking absolutely delightful and the Xbox One X surprising us with its compact size and third-party 4K support, but one game series was almost entirely absent from the show this year: Halo. It has been nearly two years since the release of Halo 5: Guardians, but don’t expect to hear news on the game’s sequel anytime soon.

Writing on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries writer Jeff Easterling tempered fans’ expectations for an announcement to arrive within the next few months.

“While there’s little to nothing that can be said on that front, it’s been made clear that we won’t be talking about Halo’s next major title for quite some time. And no, that doesn’t mean Gamescom. Or PAX. Trust us, when we’re ready to begin pulling back that proverbial curtain, you’ll know. It won’t be soon,” Easterling said.

“Major title” implies that there could be a smaller game to fill in that gap. We’ve seen twin-stick shooters Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike release in off-years, so it’s possible that this is what Easterling is referring to.

Microsoft did show off the latest expansion for strategy game Halo Wars 2, called Awakening the Nightmare, which features the return of the zombie-like Flood enemies. What’s interesting is that a fake teaser image for a game called “Halo: Gravemind” was shown off just prior to E3, and it focused on a Flood-themed horror story. Great minds think alike, we suppose.

Extra time in the oven is exactly what Halo 6 needs to put the series back on top. While Halo 5: Guardians‘ introduced innovative multiplayer ideas and took a few characters’ stories in exciting directions, it felt far too linear, and its focus on Spartan Locke didn’t help to hold players’ interest. This shouldn’t be a problem for the sequel, as 343 Industries plans to return the focus to Master Chief and, presumably, his struggle to bring Cortana back from total insanity.

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

Mobile

Upcoming Fossil Gen 6 swartwatch won’t run Wear OS 3 until 2022

fossil gen 6 specs leak

Fossil this week unveiled its next-generation smartwatch lineup, called the Fossil Gen 6. While fans were excited for the launch, the company revealed that the much-anticipated Fossil Gen 6 will be launched with Wear OS 2 rather than the new Wear OS 3 seen on the latest Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic and Watch 4. This is a surprising and disappointing revelation about the new hardware.
Users eager for the OS 3 update will have to wait till 2022, when it will be available after a full factory rese is performed, which is something we haven't typically seen required for an OS update. The Gen 6 will also be the first device to have the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus Platform, unlike the new Galaxy Watches, which use the Exynos W920 processor. The company says the new chipset will offer a 30% performance boost compared to Gen 5 devices and more efficient power consumption.

A notable addition is the SpO2 sensor, which monitors blood oxygen levels with an “upgraded heart rate sensor to allow continuous tracking and improved signal accuracy.” The Gen 6, like its predecessor (the Fossil Gen 5), offers a microphone and speaker functionality for Android and iOS, so you can take calls and use Google Assistant on the go. The Gen 6 also lets you access the Google Play Store to download Google-based apps like Google Pay. You can also download third-party apps like Spotify, which recently started supporting offline playback for Wear smartwatches. This could be a key feature for runners and music lovers who enjoy working with custom playlists.
Along with the Gen 6’s upgraded features, users can enjoy 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM with super-optimized battery life (up to 24 hours) for an improved experience that will likely be boosted by the aforementioned Snapdragon Wear 4100+ improvements. It is said to charge twice as fast, “reaching 80% in only a little more than 30 minutes of charging.” The company says this feature is helpful for tracking your sleep, as users can have a fully charged device ready within minutes of waking up after a full night’s use.
The Fossil Gen 6 features a 1.28-inch, AMOLED touchscreen display with 3 ATM water-resistance, making it safe to use when swimming. The Gen 6 comes in two sizes: A 44mm case offering a choice of four colors and a 42mm case offering three colors for added variety and style options. Users also have the option to customize dials and buttons for a more personalized look.
The Gen 6 is priced starting at $299 and $319, which seems to be consistent with Gen 5 and other Wear smartwatch prices. You can pre-order the Gen 6 on Fossil’s official website, and the company says your order will ship around the end of September if you order now.

Gaming

Halo Infinite battle passes won’t be a grind for players, says developer

halo infinite battle passes multiplayer

Halo Infinite's multiplayer will introduce a lot of new concepts to the long-running franchise. Besides new gameplay mechanics, the game's multiplayer will be entirely free-to-play, a first for any Halo title. Being a free-to-play title comes with its own specific features, including battle passes. However, according to a post on Halo Waypoint, Infinite's battle passes won't be "a grind for players."

Battle passes for Halo Infinite already have a rather open and generous design. Passes won't expire at the end of each season, and players will be able to purchase previous battle passes to get their hands on content and cosmetics they may have missed out on. These features are practically unheard of in other free-to-play or live service titles, which treat battle passes and their contents as timed exclusives. Players won't have any FOMO in Infinite, though.

Gaming

Halo Infinite’s multiplayer draws inspiration from The Master Chief Collection

A promo image for Halo Infinite's muiltiplayer reveal stream at E3.

Being halfway into my 20s, I have some pretty fond memories of playing Halo 3's multiplayer after school with friends. It was our hangout go-to, the thing we all did and all wanted to do. I got to experience that again last summer thanks to 343 Industries' efforts to not only bring the classic Halo titles back with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but also enhance those games.

To put it simply, Halo 3's multiplayer is now better than it was when I was in middle school. Amazingly, 343 has managed to refine the experience, put in more ways to play, and add in new seasons with more exciting content and cosmetics. And now, 343 is bringing its experience with Halo: The Master Chief Collection to Halo Infinite, which is shaping up as a much better multiplayer experience than previous entries.
Hail to the Chief
I'm not going off of an inkling here either -- my faith and optimism in what 343 Industries has planned for Halo Infinite's multiplayer are demonstrable. A multiplayer overview aired today that went over a ton of the content that players will be able to expect. While some gameplay mechanics that I'm still slightly worried about (mostly ADS for non-scoped weapons) weren't talked about, a majority of the game was covered.