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Bravo here with a jam-packed post-E3 Halo Bulletin! The team endured an exciting, chaotic week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and we’ve survived to tell the tale. However, before we do so, I’ve got something that I am particularly excited to tell you about.

We are proud to announce that we’ll be hosting our biggest Halo 4 tournament yet this summer. The tournament will be a Free-For-All competition with chances to qualify at in-person events as well as online. We’ll kick off the tournament at the Rooster Teeth Expo (RTX) in Austin, TX from July 5-7. More details and pre-registration for the RTX qualifier, as well as registration for the online portion of the tournament, will be opened and detailed on July 1. Last (but certainly not least), the tournament will boast over $500,000 in prizes, so we suggest you start practicing…now. As mentioned above, all of the questions you have will be answered on July 1, so check back to Halo Waypoint for the full breakdown of the tournament.

Now that your fingers are undoubtedly tingling with excitement, continue reading below for more information on E3, Spartan Assault, Matchmaking and more.

E3 2013

The journey to E3 is not always easy. I spent the weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee, checking out and commentating on some of the matches at Arena Gaming League’s Halo 4 tournament and planned on flying to Los Angeles on Sunday night. After being stuck in several airports, sprinting through the entirety of Charlotte Douglas International (with Mobility, thank goodness), and begging some airline gate agents, I somehow ended up on a flight to E3. I’d be in town for the Xbox Media Briefing the next morning. After watching each and every press conference from home for the past few years, you could say that I was excited to attend in person. After sitting in an absurd amount of traffic and watching camera-wielding members of the press begin to walk down the off-ramps, we finally arrived at the venue. Then I made a mistake and let bs angel choose our seats. She just so happened to pick the one seat in the house that had a giant camera boom arm in the way of the screen, which left me standing several feet away from her to watch all of the trailers. I usually try to stand (at least) several feet away from her anyway, so this wasn’t really a big change.

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Halo is an ever-expanding universe that inspires us each and every day, and your creations tell us that we’re not alone. This particular series, Fan Art Focus, showcases the amazing artwork created by talented members of our community. Enjoy these lovingly-crafted homages, and if you have work that you'd like to submit for possible future inclusion, send it to bsangel[at]halowaypoint.com!

Author: Jesse Tarlton

New exclusive Halo: Spartan Assault screenshot

Upon arriving at the studio every morning, I do two things: Stroll through a sea of desks to my little corner of the studio, and inform Bravo of his latest community-christened nickname as I pass by his action figure-cluttered work area. Yesterday’s nickname was “B is for Butthead”; today is “B is for Bacon.” While I love nothing more than telling Andy “B” stands for everything but “Bravo,” the other part of my morning ritual is enjoyable as well, especially because I have the privilege of working near the concept art, publishing and franchise teams.

Every day, as I walk through the different work areas that compose 343, I can’t help but peek at the endless parade of monitors. In fact, sometimes I crane my neck so far that I develop a cramp and have to get one of our interns (or Frankie) to give me a massage. You might be wondering what exactly I am trying to see. Many times, it’s an unannounced project (NO COMMENT), but other times it’s something already publicly known. For the past several months, it’s been Halo: Spartan Assault, which now fits the latter but was the former.

Because we often work on projects for several months before they are announced, each potential undertaking is given a codename to help keep it in a watertight state. Because of that practice, if you ask anybody inside the studio the name of our just-announced mobile title, they’ll tell you Bootcamp. However, if you ask anybody outside of our studio, they’ll tell you Halo: Spartan Assault. Regardless of which name you know this game by, you should also know this: While this is a small project compared to a game like Halo 4, we’re incredibly excited to be venturing into the world of Windows 8 touch-based devices. Here to talk a little more about that is Frankie.

From the mandibles of Frankie:

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