Halo Infinite has just been announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference, and, in response to fan demand, Master Chief appears to be a major focus this time around. The game releases with special enhancements for Xbox One X. This trailer arrives nearly three years after the release of Halo 5: Guardians . While the title was praised for its improvements to multiplayer, its campaign was unanimously panned for its bland story and lack of Chief. If this trailer is any indication, the game's development team at 343 Industries intends to right a very critical wrong with this next entry. Halo comes to Xbox One and PC. What are your thoughts on the next Halo? Does this new trailer restore your faith in 343? Tell us in the comments section!<doc-sep>Microsoft unveiled “Halo Infinite,” a new mainline title in the “Halo” series, during a live trailer reveal on Sunday. No release date has yet been announced. “The Master Chief returns in the next chapter of the legendary franchise in ‘Halo Infinite,'” Microsoft said in an Xbox Wire blog post. “Developed by 343 Industries and created with the studio’s new Slipspace Engine, ‘Halo Infinite’ debuted at the Xbox E3 2018 Briefing with a thrilling engine demo that provides a glimpse into the future of ‘Halo, ‘leading the franchise into new and unexpected directions.” “Halo Wars 2,” the previous installment in the series, was a real-time strategy game co-developed by 343 Industries and “Alien Isolation” developer Creative Assembly. “Halo 5: Guardians,” the franchise’s last mainline FPS title, was released in Oct. 2015. Although its campaign mode was not as well received as those in older “Halo” releases, “Halo 5’s” multiplayer is considered among the series’s best, and it has garnered a small but lively esports following thanks to Microsoft’s support of the Halo Championship Series. The Electronic Entertainment Expo kicked off Sunday with the Xbox E3 2018 Briefing at 1 p.m. PT; you can watch the broadcast live here. The presser is being held at the Microsoft Theater across the street from the main event area. This year’s E3 takes place this week, from June 12 to June 14, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Twitch’s official coverage of the event began in earnest Sunday afternoon. Follow all of Variety‘s E3 2018 coverage, which includes breaking news, original interviews, and hands-on impressions, right here.<doc-sep>Almost three years after 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians was unleashed on the Xbox One, Microsoft revealed the next installment of the epic sci-fi shooter franchise on stage at E3 2018. Ditching numbers in the title, Halo: Infinite will be exclusive to the Xbox One and Windows 10. In the trailer, a squad of soldiers, and Master Chief, appear to be traversing a new area or a breathtaking update of the multiplayer map, Valhalla. On Sunday, during Microsoft’s Xbox press conference at E3 2018, the tech giant kicked off its conference revealing Halo: Infinite, the next installment of the core Halo series (not counting the games in the Halo Wars RTS spin-offs) from 343 Industries. There is not yet a release date for Halo: Infinite. In the trailer for Halo: Infinite, the camera explores an unidentified landscape before revealing a squad of four UNSC soldiers standing underneath a mysterious structure. As the camera moves back, Master Chief has removed his helmet (but the camera still hides his face, of course), and just stands there being the badass he has been since 2001. For eagle-eyed fans, the map looks vaguely familiar to Valhalla, one of the most iconic multiplayer maps in the Halo series. However, it’s unknown if it is explicitly Valhalla or a different map from the game’s campaign. Is this Valhalla? Or something new? YouTube.com/Xbox Furthermore, the trailer for Halo: Infinite reveals that the game is making use of the new Slipspace Engine, which Microsoft promises to lead gamers “into new and unexpected directions.” A little more than ten years ago, with the unveiling of Halo 3 at E3 2006, Microsoft promised gamers to “finish the fight.” Now, it looks like the fight is going strong.<doc-sep>Master Chief is finally returning with Halo Infinite. The game’s debut trailer — revealed at Microsoft’s E3 press conference — showcases nature at work on a new Halo. Master Chief is shown plugging Cortana, or some kind of AI, into the back of his helmet as the final tease. The trailer begins with a tour of nature, showing a new ecosystem at work on the galaxy-destroying machine. We see various beasts and hieroglyphs around the world and in caves. But the world is not devoid of tech. An underwater mech is shown roaming the oceans. Shortly after, we see a small squad of marines walking through some fields. In typical Halo fashion, the trailer ends with a shot of Master Chief looking off at a beautiful vista. His helmet hangs at his side, although we don’t see his face. The trailer is shockingly peaceful for the Halo universe. We may not know much about Halo Infinite yet, but one thing’s for sure: This peaceful Halo is going to get messed up before Master Chief is done. Halo Infinite will be released on Windows 10 and Xbox One and is being developed by 343 Industries using its new Slipspace Engine. Update: YouTube Live’s interview with with Aaron Greenberg, games marketing GM for Xbox, added a bit more context to what Halo Infinite will actually be — or rather, what it won’t be: This is an entirely new chapter in the Halo saga. What we did was an in-engine demonstration. The Slipspace engine is new. 343 has built this purposefully to take Halo in a whole new direction. It’s a story that centers on Master Chief. I think you saw visually some of the capabilities of the engine. We’re excited to share more, but for now: There’s a new Halo coming, it’s Halo Infinite and it features really a focus on Master Chief, which I think will be really received well by the fans. When Geoff Keighley pushed Greenberg further with a question about the inevitability of Halo 6, Greenberg responded with this: “This is the next Halo game. Think of this as moving from the numbering to let’s do something completely different.” It sounds like it could be a while before we see the resolution of Halo 5: Guardians’ story from 2015. Update 2: In a article posted on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee confirmed that players will be spending much more time with their favorite green Spartan time time around. “The team also heard feedback loud and clear on the amount of time spent playing as the Master Chief in Halo 5,” he said. “In Halo Infinite, the game will focus on the Master Chief and continue his saga after the events of Halo 5.” Players can expect to spend more time in Master Chief’s big, metal boots. This is good news for players who miss the original Halo trilogy, but less good news for those that enjoyed the adventures of Locke and company from Halo 5.<doc-sep>
Microsoft/Screenshot by CNET Editor's note: Are you looking for the latest on Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference? Of course you are. And if you need info on all out E3 2019 coverage, it's all here too. The next entry in the Halo franchise is official -- and it's called Halo Infinite. "With Halo Infinite we will join Master Chief on his greatest adventure yet to save humanity," head of Xbox Phil Spencer said after the initial trailer was revealed during Microsoft's E3 2018 event. The game will be powered by the "Slipspace Engine," a new engine for the game series. And that engine will power the game for both Xbox One and Windows 10, a major step for the typically Xbox-focused franchise. Now playing: Watch this: E3 2018: Halo Infinite announced "The team also heard feedback loud and clear on the amount of time spent playing as the Master Chief in Halo 5. In Halo Infinite, the game will focus on the Master Chief and continue his saga after the events of Halo 5," developer 343 Studios said in a blog post offering more details on the game. Microsoft didn't reveal any more details about Halo Infinite during its E3 2018 press conference, so the exact nature of the title remains unknown. Will it follow the standard single-player and multiplayer split previous entries have had? Will there be a battle royale component? Does "Infinite" imply some sort of massively-multiplayer or open-world additions to the series? Only time will tell. The Master Chief returns in #HaloInfinite. Get your first look at the legendary hero in a thrilling new Slipspace Engine demo that provides a glimpse into the future of the franchise. #XboxE3 https://t.co/vJNXPgAJZb pic.twitter.com/G76rTX7kAY — Halo (@Halo) June 10, 2018 Here's everything else we heard from Microsoft in Los Angeles on Sunday. E3 2018: Everything you need to know E3 2018 coverage at CNET: All of our E3 2018 coverage in one place. Now playing: Watch this: E3 2018 preview E3 2018 coverage at GameSpot: Wall-to-wall coverage of the show from our sister site, GameSpot. E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb: Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb.