UPDATE: The Halo 5 teaser site has been updated and reveals more details on the countdown content.
Apparently the ARG is focused on a journalist/war photographer named Benjamin Giraud who’s investigating the Master Chief’s legacy.
The update consists of a new three-minute voice recording that chronicles Giraud’s encounter with John 117, and kicks off his investigation on the legendary hero.
Below we have a transcription of Giraud’s bio that gives a brief look at the ARG:
“For decades, I’ve served the galaxy as a journalist and war photographer. I’ve covered human-interest stories on Earth and in the Inner and Outer Colonies.
“I’ve also contracted for the government, covering military affairs. I was at New Mombasa when the Master Chief first appeared to combat the Covenant attack.”
The site should be updated in the coming weeks with fresh recordings.
Original story is as follows.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has launched a curious new teaser Tumblr post for 343i’s Halo 5: Guardians that prompts gamers to “hunt the truth”.
The page is accompanied by a 15-second teaser trailer that looks to be symbolic war propaganda from the UNSC (or possibly the Office of Naval Intelligence) that ultimately demonizes Master Chief, labeling him a “traitor” presumably after he went rogue as a result of the events of Halo 4.
The post also has a cryptic Twitter hastag entitled #HuntTheTruth, which has seen widespread coverage.
It’s been speculated that the page is kicking off a new viral marketing campaign for Halo 5 somewhat similar to Bungie’s infamous ilovebees AR campaign for Halo 2.
This time around it looks like the viral campaign will be focused in the perspective of the game’s interplanetary military force, possibly delving into the socio-political aftermath of Earth losing one of it’s most beloved heroes.
What’s even more curious is a timer that’s counting down for Sunday, March 22 at 9:00 pm EST (6:00 pm PST) when, presumably, the page will be updated with new info or possibly a new trailer.
In other Halo news, 343i executive producer Josh Holmes confirmed that Halo 5 will have dedicated servers for online multiplayer and custom games, and peer-to-peer network will be nixed.
Also Agent Locke’s voice-over artist and mo-cap actor Mike Colter revealed that Cortana might make an appearance in Halo 5, and that Locke will be returning in future Halo games.
We’ll be sure to report on any new developments once the #HuntTheTruth page is updated, and it’ll be interesting to see what 343i has up their sleeves this time around.
Halo 5: Guardians is slated to release later this year exclusively on the Xbox One.
