The Halo revival

Before the turn of the last decade, the local eSports console scene was seemingly put on ice—yes, a cytostatic spoor and condemned to frustrating inactivity. This left many fans of the popular FPS for Microsoft’s Xbox, Halo, confused and disappointed. While other resident titles such as FIFA and Street Fighter continued to make headway, often albeit lackluster sponsorship and overwhelming competition from other e-gaming heavyweights, the Halo scene decidedly followed Master Chief into sleep. Following the closure of the Brotherhood of the Box (BOB) forums, the Halo franchise with respect to its eSporting potential, found itself in a very dark place—until now. 

 

Back for the first time since 2008, a bonafide Halo tournament, backed by parent company Microsoft, has made its way back to the sunny island of Singapore. Running on the latest iteration of the Halo series (Halo Reach), the competition, which was held on the 17th of June 2012, featured a total of 16 teams and boasted the return of several veteran Halo players. Siddiq “EvilSWAT”, who is the Tournament Director and main caster for the event, was undoubtedly elated at the success of the competition. “Even without any form of promotion, we attracted almost 200 unique viewers watching the stream, with a peak of 151 concurrent viewers. Notable viewers include MLG Pro Players such as Lunchbox, Roy, OGRE2, G-SpOt, dmaq and many others, all of whom were mightily impressed with the high production values of the stream!”

 

First-placed team: Titanium (consists of Amos "Avenge" Goh and Juan "Xxiz" Miguel)

Given the tournament’s strong showing and encouraging reception even from beyond Singapore, the organizers are set to breathe life back into the once thriving scene. “This Halo: Reach tournament was a proof-of-concept to Microsoft to show that there still is a Halo community here in Singapore and that it is viable to hold more tournaments or events here,” states Siddiq, “With the impending release of Halo 4, we expect fans to come by the droves and we want to show these fans beforehand that there is a great competitive scene in Singapore through events and tournaments like this one.”

 

Tough Cookie LAN Shop is also set to feature prominently in the Halo revival especially when its owner, Yongde, who was one of the few who set the ball rolling in what was to become June’s Halo Reach competition. Having almost single handedly reestablished the Street Fighter series as one of the eSports console favorites in the country, the Halo brand might indeed benefit from the “Tough Cookie touch’”, which has also helped greased the cogs in what is at the moment a lively FIFA community.

 

Second-placed team: Barney & Friend
(consists of Kerwin "Barney" Wong (right) & Sean "Airb0nd" Chui (left)

“We certainly hope for more Halo tournaments in the near future and will be more than happy to assist Microsoft in rebuilding the community. It has been close to 5 years since local Halo players tasted any competitive action and they would certainly jump at the chance to play at another top-class tournament like this one,” adds Tournament Director EvilSWAT, “I believe that while local support for console e-sports have indeed been ebbing away since 2008, it has not truly been gone. Thankfully, with the advent of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it is easier for big gaming companies like Microsoft and EA Games to reach out to their fans and players, and vice versa, thus I believe that with time and a bit of effort from both sides, we can bring the local console gaming scene back to the halcyon days of the mid-2000s.”

 

With a fury of sterling reviews from pro Halo players all across the globe making its way over on The Halo Council site, one may truly expect the Halo revival to be veritably in motion. And no one would know better than the sharpshooting caster himself. “The support of the players themselves has been nothing short of amazing. We had all 16 slots fully booked within 3 days, which is spectacular given the fact that we've only had one other Halo tournament since 2008 and that we had only advertised through word-of-mouth!” Thanking Microsoft and Yongde of Tough Cookie, Siddiq hints at a bigger and better Halo tournament in the works. “We intend to bring back the Halo community from the ashes and make it even bigger and better than before!”

 

Third-placed team: Crow47
consists of Joshua "BlaQkrow" Lim (left) & Michael "Elts47" Teoh (right)

For reviews and testimonials of pro Halo players on the Halo Reach tournament last month, head on down here. For everything else Halo in Singapore, be sure to visit and like the Halo SG Facebook Fanpage! Stay tune to Rapture Gaming for news on the next Halo Reach competition!

Photos credit: Afiq Azman / Halosg