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Master Chief blows up a Banshee in Microsoft's Windows 11 advert

Teams kill.

Windows 11 and its centre-aligned start menu are almost upon us, and so Microsoft is cranking its adverts into gear. The latest recruit in the big marketing push: Master Chief.

The video below leans pretty heavily on Xbox Game Pass and the upcoming Halo Infinite. A woman explores Windows 11, taps on the Game Pass icon, and is whisked off to some mystery desert.

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There, a Covenant Banshee swoops into view. Thankfully, Master Chief turns up in a Warthog, jumps out and blows the Banshee to hell with a rocket launcher missile.

Within the pink-coloured explosion unfurls a screenshot of the Windows 11 user interface. His job complete, Chief jumps back into the Warthog and drives off. Fingers crossed this is a side quest in Halo Infinite's campaign.

The woman falls through the sand and out a library ceiling painting that depicts the Chief and his fight against the Covenant. It looks a bit like the Halo 3 box art to me.

Later in the ad, the woman uses the Xbox app on her laptop. Halo Infinite is there, down as coming soon, alongside Psychonauts 2 and Age of Empires 4. Gaming!

Windows 11 comes out 5th October. Will you realign the start menu to the bottom-left?