Unless you've been living under an Xbox-deflective rock for the past year, you'll know that tonight sees the launch of the multiplayer Beta of Halo: Reach.
And if you're a regular to CVG, you'll know that it's shaping up to be the biggest console Beta of all time - with Bungie itself predicting three million players across the globe.
We caught up with director of Xbox and Entertainment at Microsoft Stephen McGill to ask what the firm's ambitions are with the beta - and where its success could take the platform holder...
What reaction are you expecting from gamers when they finally get their hands on the long-awaited Reach beta? We hope they love it... Seriously, the Beta really is incredibly impressive. We've been talking about how Bungie have completely rebuilt the game engine from the ground up, and this is a real step up in terms of both graphics and gameplay from the last Halo title, and now consumers will finally get to see this for themselves.
People that have experienced the game so far, from internal staff to media, have been genuinely blown away by the experience, so we're thrilled to let this loose upon the wider LIVE community.
Halo Reach
Official trailer
1:19Reveal trailer
Halo Reach
Official trailer
1:19Reveal trailer
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How popular do you expect the title to be? Could we be looking at the most popular open Beta in Xbox history? We absolutely expect it to be popular. The Halo 3 Beta was a real success for us three years ago, and we're definitely hoping to surpass those numbers this time around. The Xbox installed base has grown significantly since then, the Halo community has in turn grown in the UK, so we're expecting great engagement when the Beta goes live.
There's a load more activity happening to drive even more people towards the Beta, so, in terms of numbers and engagement, it's probably fair to say it will be the biggest Beta to have ever hit Xbox LIVE.
How many people are you expecting to trial the title on day one? We're fully expecting the first day to be pretty popular. Bungie have come out and talked about three million people participating worldwide - I wouldn't be surprised if this is indeed the case, and as soon as we have stats we can share with the public, we will do.
What key gameplay elements are you most looking forward to fans getting their hands on? I think fans will be pleased with the all up experience. The new maps are awesome - Sword Base and Boneyard are my two personal favourites - each suited to different game types. On that note, along with the standard Team Slayer/CTF game types, we're introducing a load of cool variables of those games, with unique twists.
"Headhunter" is a riot - players collect skulls from killing fellow players, and deposit them at various moving points over the map; Stockpile is a cool new mechanic around the much loved CTF game type, where players collect and defend flags at their base until a timer counts down and triggers point scoring. And my favourite game type is absolutely "Invasion" on Boneyard.
It's Defending Spartans vs Attacking Elites in an objective-based game that sees players gradually more empowered as they lose/ gain ground across the map.
The other huge tweak are the Armour Abilities, which you may have seen covered in recent press coverage. Players choose their loadout every time they spawn, allowing them a special ability in the form of Jetpacks, Sprint, Active Camo, Additional shield resistance etc - at first we were just picking Jetpacks all the time and zooming all over the maps, but as you become more familiar with each ability you really start to understand the tactical implications of each, and you'll find yourself exploring the strategic benefits of each ability dependent on map and game type.
And of course let's not forget about the fearsome new weapons - the Grenade Launcher and Needler rifle being the favourite here - and new vehicles. All up we think this will be a comfortingly familiar, yet refreshingly different Halo experience for existing fans and new consumers alike.
Halo Reach
Official trailer
2:52Extended 'Birth of a Spartan' movie
Halo Reach
Official trailer
2:52Extended 'Birth of a Spartan' movie
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Bungie has said the Beta 'surpasses' many full-scale titles. Is this something you'd go along with - and just how much gameplay is there on offer? We're not sharing complete details of what's coming in the Beta - you'll see for yourself. We do know that the Beta in itself is one of the most complete multiplayer experiences to have ever hit LIVE, so we're really excited to hear what fans and consumers think - this is still a Beta, and Bungie will be crunching a huge amount of data from the Beta to optimise the finished Halo: Reach multiplayer experience even further.
You've decided to give away the Beta for free, despite the fact many people would have no doubt paid for it. Why did you take this decision? Well, you say for free, but players still need the Halo 3: ODST game disc in their consoles to access the Beta, so they'll need a copy of that. It made sense to drive the Beta to the Halo community, and on the Halo 3: ODST game disc seemed the perfect opportunity.
Do you believe that Xbox is the only place that a Beta of this scale could take place - considering how loyal the audience are? We've said that Xbox LIVE offers incredible multiplayer experiences, and we're confident the service will deliver a great Halo: Reach Beta experience.
The LIVE community are very loyal like you say, and the Halo audience even more so - the fact that Halo 3 is still the number two most played game on LIVE, three years after release, speaks volumes around the heritage of the franchise and the excitement around Halo: Reach.
How has the closed beta period gone? What have you learnt from the experience? Incredibly well. We've all been playing it internally and providing feedback to Bungie, and they're taking learnings. They've shaped and evolved the Beta on a daily basis. We're really interested to see what the public Beta consists of on May 3rd, and to see how that's evolved since the closed Beta sessions.
Are you expecting Halo: ODST sales to go up as people look to get access to the Reach beta? Well, naturally, the demand for Halo 3: ODST will be reinvigorated as soon as the public Beta kicks off. We know a lot of our Halo community have the game and are eagerly awaiting May 3rd, but there are also a ton of Halo gamers who know and love the Halo universe, yet didn't try Halo 3: ODST. Now at £24.99 ERP, we're offering a great way for players to experience both ODST and the Halo: Reach Beta.
Why did you pick Halo: ODST to give out the Beta? Will there be other ways for people to gain access nearer to launch - perhaps in other games? In terms of engaging the Halo community and driving awareness around the Halo: Reach Beta, it made the most sense to include Beta access on the ODST game disc.
We're always looking at different ways to roll out the best gaming and entertainment experiences to our consumers, but have nothing else to share at this time.
Halo Reach
Official trailer
7:47Vidoc 1
Halo Reach
Official trailer
7:47Vidoc 1
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The last Halo Beta was hugely successful - but you tend to restrict open Betas to the Halo series. Can we expect them for titles such as Gears Of War 3, Fable III etc in future? You're right, the Halo 3 Beta was incredibly successful, both in terms of the number of people that participated and the data collected that then went on to help shape the final game - this last point is actually a critical reason for roiling out Public Beta testing, and the Halo games, and Community experience that Bungie has, lend themselves particularly well to Beta activities.
Again, we're always looking at great ways to engage consumers with all of our titles, but have nothing else to share at this time.
It's just more of the same really but with a jetpack instead of an energy drain, I look forward to playing the campaign upon its full release but the multiplayer so far I've found to be good but not that impressive.
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