Halo: Reach dated for September

By Robert Purchese Published 24 May, 2010

Beta three times the size of Halo 3's.

Bungie has announced that Halo: Reach will be released worldwide on 14th September (15th September in Japan).

The date spilled from a press release on Yahoo spotted by VG247.

Alongside the date came statistics for the recently finished beta. Apparently more than 2.7 million people took part, logging 16m hours and 1.1bn virtual kills.

"It's exceeded our expectations," Bungie's Brian Jarrard commented.

"Our only real perspective going into this was the Halo 3 beta test, which had about 800,000 people. We knew there were a couple million copies of ODST out there, but we really didn't have any specific information that let us know what the population might be like."

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Cadence #1 2 years ago

    Who's SATAIN?

  • cianchristopher #2 2 years ago

    7/10 confirmed...

  • mcmonkeyplc #3 2 years ago

    Yup.

  • altitude2k #4 2 years ago

    A week after F1 2010? Doesn't give me much time to complete a season...

    Edit: my bad, it's the week BEFORE F1 2010. That should be fine, then.
    Edited by altitude2k at 24/05/10 @ 13:24

  • MiniAmin #5 2 years ago

    Halo: Reach will be released worldwide on 14th September

    Employers around the world, tremble!

  • mcmonkeyplc #6 2 years ago

    Can we set up a petition to get Ellie to review this? Think of the hits!

  • Shadders #7 2 years ago

    Aaaaand I have the week booked off work. :D

  • thubie #8 2 years ago

    @mini amin

    That scenario could happen in south korea when starcraft 2 comes out.

  • CaptainQuint #9 2 years ago

    woot woot!

    Friendly bet says this gets 10/10 at Eurogamer. Don't forget - these games are usually loaded with features - adding an extra point to the review score.

  • MaxHughes #10 2 years ago

    Day after my birthday \o\ \o/ /o/

  • CaptainQuint #11 2 years ago

    I love the smell of negative ratings in the mornin'.

  • matrim83 #12 2 years ago

    Thats it. Now I have a date to book a week off. Internet blackout from the 1st of September.

  • Kamata #13 2 years ago

    i WANT TO BE A SPARTAN AND SO DOES MY WIFE.

  • Ranger101 #14 2 years ago

    Played the beta, and unfortunately, despite the hype (or infact in spite of the hype) I was terribly underwhelmed. With the explosive and atmospheric multiplayer experiences that MW2 and BC2 offer, Reach paled in comparison and was infact quite a quiet and unimpressive experience.

    It felt like I was playing a job.

  • CaptainQuint #15 2 years ago

    You mean you found it too tough?

    Lol, just kidding.

  • Dizzy #16 2 years ago

    >With the explosive and atmospheric multiplayer experiences that MW2 and BC2 offer

    The irony is thick on this one.

  • Ranger101 #17 2 years ago

    @Dizzy

    Sit down and play MW2, BC2 and Reach one after another (actually you can't anymore, but substitute in Halo 3 MP) and you'lll understand what I'm talking about. Pay attention to the sound and atmosphere each game presents, as well as the visual elements that make up more than the HUD and your gun. The sense of excitement, adrelinine and anticipation in pre-match lobbies, in-game and post game are pretty spectacular/lively in the first two.

    I think you'll find that your snarky comment might find itself being withdrawn.
    Edited by Ranger101 at 24/05/10 @ 15:06

  • Ranger101 #18 2 years ago

    Also, FYI, I was topping the end of game tables/scorecards on my playthroughs in my limited time paying this game, so it wasn't a question of difficulty - even when I didn't know the controls. It simply was "more of the same, but with a little more", and as fantastic as Halo2 MP was, other games specialising in Multiplayer experiences have borrowed and improved upon the formula.

  • miiiguel #19 2 years ago

    Friendly bet says this gets 10/10 at Eurogamer. Don't forget - these games are usually loaded with features - adding an extra point to the review score.

    No doubt, another extra-ultra-awesome point(s) for the fact that milions of users actualy love the game and play them for years, and years. It has to worth something, huh? I mean, real life, facts, not just internet rhetoric.
    Edited by miiiguel at 24/05/10 @ 15:14

  • Rich72 #20 2 years ago

    how you getting on with sonic the hedgehog Raajaa?

  • Yossarian #21 2 years ago

    I find Raajaa's record of having played three games of Grab Bag on one map with a K/D of 0.85 to be quite 'lackluster', personally.

  • CaptainQuint #22 2 years ago

    @Ranger

    In terms of "atmosphere", I believe only BC2 is a worthy comparison to the famously exciting Halo equivalent. Yes, sound and overall ambience play a huge part in a sense of place and action, which is why BC2 succeeds, with it's excellence use of reverb, weather effects (including changes to visibility) and crunch, underfoot. Halo has the sort of atmosphere which gamers the world over just know, even merely by the sound  of it - from the stirring tones of the legendary announcer, through to the tweeeeeep of a stuck plasma grenade - the ambience and indeed atmosphere of Halo online has nothing to prove, since it is already well inbedded into the gamers psychie. MW2 on the other hand, whilst having superior sound, leaves little resonance of tangible atmosphere, at least to myself - indeed, it's ambient identity is rather generic, in it's style - coming off as about as unique as countless other online shooters.

    In fact the only thing which does stay in the memory is the constant sound of the level-up/reward electric guitar sample, played as frequently as possible in order to sate the appetite of the ever hungry n00b who's become addicted to the cheap as chips rewards system which that game offers.

  • Thedni #23 2 years ago

    Brilliant, that means I can play it to death a week and abit before I piss off back to Uni. Still miffed I couldn't log a few hours on the beta, curse you fascist Uni internet!

  • altitude2k #24 2 years ago

    @Thedni

    I bet those university IT trolls all play Quake in their windowless cubbyholes as well!

  • Thedni #25 2 years ago

    @altitude2k
    Only game I that works as far as I know is WoW... go figure.

  • RedSparrows #26 2 years ago

    'other games specialising in Multiplayer experiences have borrowed and improved upon the formula.'

    No, they borrowed Medal of Honour/Call of Duty's formula and still stick with it. Halo is about the only FPS on a console that's any fucking different to play than 'sprint...crouch...aim down sight...repeat'.

  • neosalad #27 2 years ago

    hmm, wish my hols werent already in, but they make us put them in a whole year and a bit beforehand.
    :(
    am sure i'll be able to fit some halo-time in though:)

  • spiritsnake #28 2 years ago

    awesome,cant wait,im a HALO addict.

  • Buran #29 2 years ago

    Their expectations were 3 millions, and they barely "reach" 1.7 :

    [link url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6263409.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B1
    ]http://www.gamespot.com/news/6263409.htm...[/link]

    http://www.gamespot.com/news/6259140.html

  • RedSparrows #30 2 years ago

    Game sucks, then.

  • Climhazzard #31 2 years ago

    Its probably lost a hell of a lot of sales from the beta too, unbelievebly bad multiplayer.

  • CaptainQuint #32 2 years ago

    I think it's safe to say that a lot of people simply didn't have odst or the ones who did traded it in long before the beta turned up. Odst ownership or lack of, is key here.

    One things certain, if the beta had been put on the marketplace, it would've sailed past 3mil and then some.

  • Dylbot #33 2 years ago

    @Ranger101

    Agreed, hard. I took time out of my busy BC2 schedule to play this and was massively underwhelmed. Bungie needs to move the fuck on from Halo 2, because Reach plays like a slower, less exciting version of that. Even the jetpacks are sluggish and boring.

    We need a new ridiculous sci-fi shooter. UT3 was garbage, the most recent Quake was garbage, and Reach is just Halo 2.6.

  • Negotiator #34 2 years ago

    Best FPS ever, you heard it here first, quote me on that.
    Edited by Negotiator at 25/05/10 @ 00:40

  • muscleblade #35 2 years ago

    @Negotiator

    You dont have to be psycic to call that. Its a given.

  • Climhazzard #36 2 years ago

    Sorry but Reach is nothing like Halo 2, doesn't even come close. Halo 2 is still the best of the series by far and by looks of it always will be.