Halo 4 confirmed by Microsoft

By Johnny Minkley Published 6 June, 2011

Halo HD remake and more also outed!

Oopsy daisy! With just over two hours to go until its E3 press conference, Microsoft has – apparently by mistake - published a series of major announcements on Xbox.com – including news that "Halo 4 is on the way".

The information, images of which can be seen below, has since been removed, but in addition to Halo, Dance Central 2, Kinect Sports Season 2 and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary were all outed. Surprise!

Xbox.com described Halo 4 as "the news millions of Halo fans have waited for", while the long-awaited Halo HD remake is described as: "The epic game that launched a universe, remastered for a new generation".

Two further unannounced Kinect game were listed. In Ryse, "you are the warrior in this cinematic, action-packed Kinect experience". Meanwhile, Kinect Fun Labs is "a fun new app" with "crazy, cool new gadgets". Sounds like Crytek's Codename: Kingdoms project.

Our LA Hit Squad will be furiously live-blogging every key moment of the Xbox conference from 5pm BST.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Johnny Minkley is a veteran games writer and broadcaster, former editor of Eurogamer TV, VP of gaming charity SpecialEffect, and hopeless social media addict.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (70) Latest comment 12 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tejstar #1 12 months ago

    Ooh - let's see how this turns out post Bungie...

  • JayScott #2 12 months ago

    I totally missed a comma there and read that as Halo Dance Central 2, which I admit is totally a game I would buy a kinect for.

  • Shinetop #3 12 months ago

    Halo 4? But I thought Eurogamer commenters had decided Microsoft wasn't creating any games for 'the core' anymore?

  • iriihutoR48 #4 12 months ago

    Hope the new team can make the Halo series good. It never has been. Hope Microsoft has some better aces up their sleeve than this and Kinect.

  • DozyKipper #5 12 months ago

    Am I the only one who CBA with Halo? It went downhill from 2 onwards.

  • SlapDashDapps #6 12 months ago

    Halo without bungie behind it ?.....pass

  • onezeonx #7 12 months ago

    Halo was shit after Halo 2...fact :p

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #8 12 months ago

    Absolutely fantastic news – CAN’T WAIT!

    ……about Halo four by the way

  • Tyranix #9 12 months ago

    Wh-what? This is madness! I could never have predicted such a...

  • jag10 #10 12 months ago

    'There's only one bungie'
    'one bungiiiiie'
    'There's only one bungie'

  • LeemanRuss #11 12 months ago

    LIKE ZOMG SESAME STREET ONCE UPON A MONSTER!!!!!

  • DDevil #12 12 months ago

    Love me some Halo these days, but I've never played the first as I didn't own an Xbox (PS2 ruled my gaming world back then), so this will be a good excuse to right that wrong.
    Good to see the E3 tradition of accidentally leaking the contents of your press conference is continuing. Shame the entire thing wasn't uploaded to a public ftp a la Ubisoft a few years back.

  • MatMan562 #13 12 months ago

    Well I wasn't expecting Halo 4 to be revealed until E3 2012 at the earliest so it's a nice surprise for me. Can't wait to see what they're doing with it!

  • Power_n_Glory #14 12 months ago

    MS have to work on some new titles. Didn't expect to hear this. I love Halo and Reach is fantastic, but it's a little too soon for another one.

  • NotSoSlim #15 12 months ago

    Lol well if that's all the announcements then color me disappointed :(

  • scowat #16 12 months ago

    Post deleted at 16:41:01 08-02-2012

  • Monkey_Chops #17 12 months ago

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-06-eurogamer-at-e3-2011-preview#comment2366835
    ]http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-0...[/link]

    Told ya.

  • WinterSnowblind #18 12 months ago

    I'm still a big fan of the Halo series, unlike things like CoD, I think it's actually set in an interesting universe and can support multiple games like this.

    I'm all for a remake to celebrate the 10th anniversary (although I don't think CE has aged particularly badly) but do we really need a Halo 4 so soon? I'd rather they held that off to the next console. Give the series a rest for a year or two and bring it back at launch with a massive new game that continues Master Chief's story.

    Really hoping to see something from Microsoft that isn't just Halo/Gears/Fable.

  • Zozzilla #19 12 months ago

    I can see the Microsoft execs now - "I know, let's see how much money we can make from a franchise that's supposed to be done with now! Sorry Bungie, we're gonna milk it harder than you EVER did! BWAHAHAHAAAAAA let's screw over some Halo fans!"

  • CaptainQuint #20 12 months ago

    WORT WORT WORT!

    /Fanboy gush

  • cw- #21 12 months ago

    Halo 4, Christmas 2012 release!

  • Snufkin #22 12 months ago

    As long as Halo4 doesn't get 'CoDded' I reckon I'll be on board. Emergent gameplay over scripted events any day.

    Pity the fool web-master that will be getting shit-canned for that mistake.

  • Monkey_Chops #23 12 months ago

    I understand the cutscenes are being redone for the Halo remake.

  • Oldest_Ancient #24 12 months ago

    For some reason I quite fancy trying Halo:CE despite ODST being the only entry I've enjoyed so far.

    Not sure if this will have Live support or not though, as far as I'm aware the original didn't.

  • Shinetop #25 12 months ago

    do something bloody well new instead of bringing out a new one...

    Hmm.

  • WinterSnowblind #26 12 months ago

    @Oldest_Ancient
    I think it's assumed it will just ship with the Reach multiplayer, the same way ODST had Halo 3's.
    Though that doesn't fit with the rumours that the remake is being done on a completely new engine.

  • RevanNL #27 12 months ago

    I really hope it's going to be more then Halo 4, Halo HD, Forza 4, Gears 3 and a whole lot of Kinect bullshit in today's press conference.

    There was a time when the 360 had the most diverse line-up of exclusive games (circa 2006&2007). I would like MS to go back to those times.

  • MattEdWithCheese #28 12 months ago

    YESS! The image confirms that it will follow on from 3 after the two crash on the forerunner planet from the legendary ending. Here's hoping for a parallel story-line with the Arbiter and Shipmaster returning successfully to Sanghelios!

  • Daeltaja #29 12 months ago

    Ahh Halo in new hands. Finally we might see it evolve somewhat.

  • Jamieb87 #30 12 months ago

    Halo 4: Extreme Warthog Racing.
    You heard it here first ;)

  • WeakOrbit #31 12 months ago

    The avatar man in the bottom left of the screen scares me.

  • crooky369 #32 12 months ago

    Halo isn't that big of a deal in this country anymore IMO. Didn't F1 2010 knock it off top spot in only Halo's second week?

  • geeza2020 #33 12 months ago

    and the first big punch of E3 is landed by MS then. Halo's not my cup of tea, but I realise its a huge game for millions of others. Hopefully some of the other announcements coming up over the week have a little more relevance to my gaming tastes.

  • darkmorgado #34 12 months ago

    YAY! MORE HALO!

    I'm a happy bunny.

  • Mr.Spo #35 12 months ago

    As much as I enjoy the pre-E3 rumours, it's disappointing when big announcements are leaked outside of the conferences. I'll still enjoy whatever bombastic trailer Microsoft have for Halo 4, but this undignified announcement is a let down. I enjoy watching the conferences live and squealing with delight like a spoiled pig when a genuinely surprising and pleasing announcement is made!

  • Eraysor #36 12 months ago

    Doing a HD remake of a game only 1 generation old seems a bit silly to me...

  • darkmorgado #37 12 months ago

    I don't get people accusing Halo of being milked.

    In 10 years we have had 3 main games, 2 side stories and an RTS. That's hardly milking. Look at Call of Duty - 8 games in as many years. Or Guitar Hero. Or Tony Hawks. And then look at the amount of different versions of those games, like all the handheld iterations. THAT's milking something.
    Edited by darkmorgado at 06/06/11 @ 16:10

  • kinky_mong #38 12 months ago

    Uninspiring. Just as well there's plenty of great non-exclusive games to look forward to.

  • carlitoswagon #39 12 months ago

    Taking it this means a sequel and follow-on from the end of Halo 3? Sounds stupid but am assuming it means the return of Master Chief etc.

  • RodHull #40 12 months ago

    I really hope Rare are behind whatever Ryse is and they aren't being squandered on that Labs do whacky.

  • WinterSnowblind #41 12 months ago

    @darkmorgado
    Even look at other popular titles like Metal Gear Solid or God of War, people will cheer everytime we see new versions of them, despite the fact they've had more sequels in a smaller time frame. Like I said, I think it's too soon for another Halo.. but accusing the series of being milked is ridiculous.

    Even with two new games coming.. it's tame compared to most big franchises.

  • Kanjin #42 12 months ago

    Nice, hopefully see some new ideas in Single Player

  • andywilkie35 #43 12 months ago

    Great news

  • Gnort #44 12 months ago

    Best quote on this I've seen so far, from GamesRadar's twitter feed:

    "There's Halo 4 all over the place as Microsoft's conference money shot dribbles out."

  • arcam #45 12 months ago

    @darkmorgado

    Sign of the times I guess. The first three Halo games were spread out over 6 years, but then there were three more Halo games in a year and a half, even after we had 'finished the fight'. And now it looks like there will be another 2 Halo games within the next year. 'Milking' something is surely subjective, but I can see why people might say that. However, is milking something so bad if that's what people want?

  • MrE26 #46 12 months ago

    As much as i enjoyed the previous games, a new team in charge might freshen the franchise up a little. Looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

  • Bluetooth #47 12 months ago

    Master Chief double whammy!

  • Snaggletooth #48 12 months ago

    I bet this will be a game / movie tie in.

  • Spanky #49 12 months ago

    I hope they keep the 'storytelling' to a minimum and give me the repetitive alien genocide that i crave.

  • CallousB #50 12 months ago

    Not sure why they would announce Halo 4 now...unless it's due this year/early next year.

    You'd think they would concentrate on pushing Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary....and then announce Halo 4.

  • Beano #51 12 months ago

    They had me at Hal...

  • coolbritannia #52 12 months ago

    Best gaming news so far this year.

  • mr_pink #53 12 months ago

    I think Halo as a story/character-driven franchise is tainted by the frankly boring and medicore characters and dialogue. The game mechanics themselves are pretty fun, which I guess why it's still so popular in multiplayer. I'd be more interested to see a new IP which beings together a quality story with some of the gameplay that made Halo worthwhile. If they could distill the best gameplay moments from the Halo series and throw away the rest, they'd really be onto something special.

  • StolenGlory #54 12 months ago

    CoD was shit after CoD4... fact :p

  • MiniAmin #55 12 months ago

    I fucking love Halo and I am thrilled with this news. But I would really, really like a new IP too. If it's simply Halo, Gears and Forza... AGAIN, i'll begin to start saving up for a PS3.

  • EmiliasHorse #56 12 months ago

    Very good news all round

  • davisorle #57 12 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:15 09-05-2012

  • StolenGlory #58 12 months ago

    http://e3.gamespot.com/press-conference/...

  • coolbritannia #59 12 months ago

    "Halo was once relevant/popular, Combat evolved along with 007 Goldeneye are probaly the 2 most important console FPSs in the early years of the console FPS(1997-2002). But Today (well since halo 3 & to a lesser extent halo 2) Halo has fallen of a cliff and IS imo absolute rubbish."

    Luckily your opinion is completely irrelevant. Halo 2, 3 and Reach's sales all say hi! Piss off back to COD.

  • jambii267 #60 12 months ago

    We all knew it would be coming eventually, i'm personally more interested in who is making it.

  • TonyCocaCola #61 12 months ago

    I actually preferred ODST and Reach to Halo 2 and 3.. but more Halo isn't a bad thing!

  • Monkey_Puncher #62 12 months ago

    I am starting to lose a little faith in Microsoft's ability to keep me interested as a gamer that doesn't want care about Halo or Call of Duty and games of that ilk. I've loved my Xbox, but if this is the best they can do for announcements at E3, I really hope Nintendo can impress me with their new console and make me want that.

  • MiniAmin #63 12 months ago

    "If you keep telling people something is good, then people will eventually start beliving it (as is the way in our consumerist society which is mainly inhabited by sheep)."

    Thanks for your amazing socio-economic critique.

    "An overrated, over-hyped, & bland generic gameplay experience with average to poor graphics. And thats the truth."

    No, it's fantastic, fun, frantic, measured and brilliant.

  • quantumsheep #64 12 months ago

    "If you keep telling people something is good, then people will eventually start beliving it (as is the way in our consumerist society which is mainly inhabited by sheep). "

    *waves*

    :D

  • Quixz #65 12 months ago

    Can the new team finally give us a 1280 X 720 Halo game..

    I will buy it day one regardless! :D

  • RedSparrows #66 12 months ago

    YAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    Knew it was coming but all the same.

    WORT WORT WORT! It could not evolve a jot and still be the best thing around.

    Be interesting to see how it goes post-Bungie, indeed.

    And as to:

    'I agree with those who say halo stopped being good/relevant after halo combat evolved & to a lesser extent halo 2.

    Halo was once relevant/popular, Combat evolved along with 007 Goldeneye are probaly the 2 most important console FPSs in the early years of the console FPS(1997-2002). But Today (well since halo 3 & to a lesser extent halo 2) Halo has fallen of a cliff and IS imo absolute rubbish. And people need to move on and see the halo franchise for what it really is, An overrated, over-hyped, & bland generic gameplay experience with average to poor graphics. And thats the truth, and if you can't see that then your just the blinded fools/sheep M$ love to target.

    M$ spend more money marketing halo than they do on actually developing the game. That speaks volumes to me as to why halo has remained popular over the years (although its no where near as popular as it once was). If you keep telling people something is good, then people will eventually start beliving it (as is the way in our consumerist society which is mainly inhabited by sheep). '

    Call me a Halo fanboy, but that is tripe of the highest order.

  • apoc_reg #67 12 months ago

    Ouch!!

  • SBfistfun #68 12 months ago

    Give us something new!

  • davisorle #69 12 months ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • trip919 #70 12 months ago

    yyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn