Halo Championship Series

Included maps and modes:

• Team Slayer: Shrine, Lockdown, Warlord
• Oddball: Warlord, Lockdown
• Capture the Flag: Shrine (3 Flag), Warlord (5 Flag)
• King of the Hill: Lockdown, Warlord
• Neutral Bomb Assault: Shrine (3 Bomb), Warlord (5 Bomb)

The Halo World Championship was announced on August 4, 2015 with a trailer shown during Microsoft's Gamescom showcase. With a prize pool of over $2,500,000 USD, there has never been a Halo tournament with higher stakes. It is also the first major tournament featuring invited teams from all regions of the world.

• 16 teams invited as specified, based on performance in regional qualifiers:
  • 8 North American (NA) teams
  • 4 European/Middle Eastern/African (EMEA) teams
  • 2 Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) teams
  • 1 Asian (Asia) team
  • 1 Latin American (LATAM) team
• Group play, four teams per group
  • Top two teams from each group advance to Championship Bracket, bottom two finish 9th-16th.
  • Best-of-5 series
• Championship bracket
  • Single-elimination bracket, best-of-5 series (quarterfinals), best-of-7 series (semifinals, finals)
  • Group winners drawn into bracket against group runners-up with a restriction on teams from same group being on same half of bracket

The prize pool was initially announced to be starting at $1,000,000, with possible increases from the purchase of REQ packs in Halo 5. On November 4, 2015, 343 announced that the prize pool had reached $1,500,000 through REQ pack crowdfunding, with the possibility of growing all the way until March.On November 19, the prize pool was confirmed to have hit $1,700,000. On December 3, MLG confirmed that it had reached $2,000,000. On February 19, during the pre-show for the MLG North American Regional Finals, Goldenboy and Benson confirmed that the prize pool had reached $2,500,000.

The prize money is distributed as follows:

• Capture the Flag - Coliseum, Fathom, Truth
• Strongholds - Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer - Coliseum, Eden, Plaza, Regret, The Rig, Truth

A total of $2,500,000 USD is awarded.

• 12 teams invited as specified, based on performance in regional qualifiers
  • 7 North American (NA) teams
  • 3 European (EU) teams
  • 1 Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) team
  • 1 Latin American (LATAM) team
• Group play consisted of four groups with three teams in each group
  • Teams advance to the Championship bracket based on their group placing
  • Group matches are played best-of-5-series
• Championship Bracket
  • Teams are seeded by Group Stage results
  • The team in third place of each group is placed in Losers Bracket Round One
  • Double-elimination bracket, best of 7 series

• Capture the Flag (CTF) – Fathom, Truth, Coliseum
• Strongholds – Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer – Coliseum, Plaza, Regret, The Rig, Truth, Eden

A total of $1,000,000 USD is awarded.

Dreamhack Atlanta 2017 was an event that took place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia from July 21–23, 2017. The event is the combination of the Summer 2017 season finals for both the North American and European pro League Seasons. The event featured a $200,000 prize pool.

• Capture the Flag - Coliseum, Fathom, Truth
• Strongholds - Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer - Coliseum, Eden, Plaza, Regret, The Rig, Truth

Dreamhack Denver 2017 was an event that took place at the National Western Complex, Denver, Colorado from October 20–22, 2017. The event is the combination of the Fall 2017 season finals for both the North American and European pro League Seasons. The event featured a $200,000 prize pool.

• Capture the Flag - Coliseum, Fathom, Truth
• Strongholds - Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer - Coliseum, Eden, Plaza, Regret, The Rig, Truth

To start the season off and to showcase the newly formed partnership between the HCS and MLG, a global open event was hosted at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida from February 16-18th. This competition featured an open bracket and featured $50,000 up for grabs. This event provides seeding points which go towards regional events for the qualification stage of the Halo World Championship 2018.

Results

• 16 teams invited based on results from regional qualifiers
  • 9 teams are invited from North America (NA) based on the results of MLG Columbus 2018
  • 4 teams are invited from Europe (EU) based on the results of Gfinity London 2018
  • 2 teams are invited from Australia and New Zealand based on the results of ESL Sydney 2018
  • 1 team is invited from Latin America based on the results of Gamelta Mexico City 2018
• Group play is played with four teams in four groups
  • Group play is played in Round Robin format, each team must play each other in each group
  • Group play matches are a best of 5 series
  • The top two teams from each group advance to the Championship Bracket
  • The bottom two teams from each group are eliminated
• The Championship bracket is an 8-team double elimination bracket. Matches are best of 7

For the Halo World Championship 2018 there where 4 events where top placing teams where invited to the world championship.

HCS London, Hosted by Gfinity took place at the Gfinity Arena in London, England from February 23–25, 2018. This was the second event hosted by Gfinity and was the European qualifier into the Halo World Championship 2018

Results

ESL Sydney, Hosted by ESL took place at the ESL Studios in Sydney, Australia from March 9–11, 2018

Results

Gamelta Mexico City 2018 hosted by Gamelta severed as the Latin American qualifier for the Halo World Championship. The event took place at the Corona Fourm in Mexico City from March 16–18, 2018

Results

MLG Columbus was the second event of the HCS 2018 season hosted by MLG, it also being the North American qualifier. The event took place at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio from March 23–25, 2018

Results

• Capture the Flag (CTF) – Fathom, Truth, Coliseum
• Strongholds – Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer – Coliseum, Plaza, Regret, The Rig, Truth

The initial event for the HCS Fall season 2018 was MLG New Orleans, taking place at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The event took place from July 13–15 and was hosted alongside a Gears of War tournament. The event featured a $250,000 prize pool. This event is hosted as a global open meaning armature teams can play through the open bracket.

• 12 Teams are automatically qualified for the group stage based on their performance at the Halo World Championship and their performance in recent 2K competitions.
  • Groups have four teams, three pro teams and one open bracket team
  • Once again each group is played in the Round Robin format.
  • All group matches are a best of 5 series
  • The top two teams from each group are placed in Championship Winners Bracket 1, with the bottom two teams placed in the Losers bracket 1 and 2 respectively.
  • All brackets are double elimination.

MLG New Orleans was the first time Oddball was showcased in the Halo Championship Series for Halo 5: Guardians and several maps made by community members using the in-game level editor forge where also reviewed for competitive play.

• Capture the Flag (CTF) – Refuge, Truth, Coliseum
• Strongholds – Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer – Coliseum, Plaza, Refuge, The Rig, Truth
• Oddball – Eden, Echelon, Fissure

HCS London was the second main event of the HCS Fall Season 2018 and was notably the first international tournament for Halo 5: Guardians hosted out side of North America. The event featured a $135,000 prize pool and was hosted by Gfinity. The event took place at the Gfinity Arena in Fulham, London.

• Capture the Flag (CTF) – Refuge, Truth, Coliseum
• Strongholds – Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
• Slayer – Coliseum, Plaza, Refuge, The Rig, Truth
• Oddball – Eden, Echelon, Fissure