A new Halo game is coming to the Xbox One console in 2014, Microsoft said Monday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
The upcoming installment in Microsoft's acclaimed sci-fi shooter franchise will take "full advantage" of Microsoft's next-generation console, Bonnie Ross, general manager of 343 Industries, said. Ross highlighted the new console's cloud features, though she added that the next "Halo," for the first time in the series' history, would run at a "blistering 60 frames-per-second."
Strangely, the 2014 release date for "Halo" means that the flagship franchise won't be a launch title for the Xbox One. "Halo 4," the first Halo game developed by 343 Industries after the series was passed off from previous developer Bungie, came out for the Xbox 360 in November 2012. While Microsoft recently announced several other developments for the Halofranchise such as a Steven Spielberg-directed television spin-off and a mobile-friendly game known as "Spartan Assault, the fact that it is leaving "Halo" out of the Xbox One's starting line-up might be a sign that the company is trying to move away from relying on its sci-fi shooter as the single most important exclusive game property on its proprietary gaming hardware. Microsoft has repeatedly emphasized that it now has more exclusive games in the works than ever before in its history as a console developer, after all.
The new "Halo" will be 343's second entry in the series of core console games. Watch the debut trailer below.
Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: ylejacq@gmail.com.