Halo's Premiere Pro Gaming Tournament Returns in 2017 With $1 Million Prize Pool

It comes as no surprise given Microsoft's commitment to Halo's competitive gaming scene, but the company has now officially confirmed that the Halo World Championship event will return in 2017.

As explained on the Halo website, Microsoft is working with the ESL for this year's event. The Finals will feature a dozen teams from around the world, competing for their share of a $1 million prize pool.

Microsoft is changing up the format somewhat for this year's event. Teams will first need to make it out of their group and then they'll get into a double-elimination bracket. More details about the new format will be announced later. Qualifying begins in January in St. Louis, continuing at other sites around the world in the lead-up to the Finals, which will take place sometime in April.

Counter-Logic Gaming dominated Allegiance to win the Halo World Championship in 2016.

In other news about Halo and competitive gaming, Microsoft recently announced that it partnered with Wicked Tuna's production company to make a reality TV show about Halo esports.

The latest Halo 5 expansion, Monitor's Bounty, came out last week for Xbox One and PC. It added new maps and weapons, and made Forge a lot bigger and better.