Halo 6 Won't Be Shown At E3 In June

You can set aside any hopes of seeing the next main entry in the Halo series at E3 next month--developer 343 Industries says Halo 6 won't be at the show.

Responding to a comment on Reddit, Halo community manager Brian Jarrard shared the news, stating, "[W]e'll have a little something at E3 but it's not related to the next major entry in the franchise," referencing the inevitable Halo 6.

That may not come as a big surprise to you: Microsoft has already said there won't be a new Halo first-person shooter released in 2017 (or a new Gears of War, for that matter). In other words, any announcement at E3 would have to be for a game coming no sooner than 2018. That's not inconceivable by any means, but Microsoft may be inclined to spend more of its team showcasing Project Scorpio and the games you'll be able to play on it (and Xbox One) this year.

As for what 343's "little something" is, there's no indication if it's for Halo Wars 2 or something else. Similarly, we have little idea of what Microsoft as a whole will have to show. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has spoken broadly about its E3 lineup, but there's little official word on what will be there. Xbox's 2017 catalog includes Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, and State of Decay 2. Its E3 media briefing is scheduled for Sunday, June 11.

In other Halo news, Halo 6--whenever it does come--will have to do without 343 studio head Dan Ayoub, who has just moved to Microsoft's Mixed Reality technology team.

The most recent Halo FPS, Halo 5: Guardians, was released back in October 2015 and has received a great deal of post-launch support ever since. Its single-player campaign was the source of some criticism, particularly its story and how it related (or did not) to its marketing. Whatever changes are made, we do know Halo 6 will feature split-screen multiplayer support.