'Halo 5: Guardians' Release Date Coming Next Year: 343 Industries To Also Launch TV Series

“Halo 5: Guardians” will launch for the Xbox One in fall 2015, Microsoft announced Friday. The Redmond, Washington-based media conglomerate also added that a Steven Spielberg-produced “Halo” television series will launch sometime in 2015.

The upcoming title will run at 60 frames per second on a new engine created by Kirkland, Washington-based 343 Industries, the same developer working on “Halo 5: Guardians.”

"'Halo 5: Guardians' is obviously a big deal for us," said Frank O'Connor, franchise development director at 343i. "It's the next chapter in the Master Chief saga. It's also a big deal for us because of the transition to the Xbox One platform. All of the 'Halo' games -- more or less -- have added something to the Xbox ecosystem.

This will be the first installment since 2013’s “Halo: Spartan Assault,” a third-person shooter set in the timeframe between “Halo 3” and “Halo 4.” The title received mixed reviews. “Halo 4” launched for the Xbox 360 in 2012 and grossed $220 million on its launch day and $300 million during its opening week, setting a record for the Microsoft franchise.

The development of “Halo 5: Guardians” was announced during E3 last year, along with a trailer depicting a post-“Halo 4” Master Chief.

“’Halo’” isn’t simply a perennial game franchise, it’s a part of the Xbox platform itself. In terms of innovation and ideation, it’s sometimes important to people who might not even play ‘Halo,’” Bonnie Ross, general manager of 343 Industries said on the Xbox blog Friday. “And of course it’s a passion and an essential experience for two generations of gamers. So we asked ourselves, how do we begin and where do we go with ‘Halo’ on Xbox One?”

“For us at 343 Industries, the launch of the Xbox One was an opportunity to think about what stories we wanted to tell, how to tell them, and how best to push the ‘Halo’ franchise to showcase the platform,” Ross added. “And, most importantly, combining our passion for ‘Halo’ with the vocal and informative input from our fans.”

Ross called the project “massive and exciting," adding that “Halo 5” will be a “bigger effort” than “Halo 4.”

“That applies to the content and scope of the game, as well as the technology in what’s now a brand new and more powerful engine. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we’ve invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One’s hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen,” Ross explained.

“It’s a game that will hopefully demonstrate the talent, learnings and abilities of the 343 Industries team. A game that will incorporate the things we learned from ‘Halo 4’ about technology, aesthetics, performance and scale – and perhaps more importantly, understanding and embracing a community of gamers who love what lies at the heart of this game, and the limitless potential of the ‘Halo’ universe,” Ross said. She also assured fans more details would be coming during the Xbox E3 media briefing next month.