Microsoft announces the Halo World Championship at the 2015 Gamescom conference in Germany.
Microsoft announces the Halo World Championship at the 2015 Gamescom conference in Germany.

Microsoft is doubling down on its push into the world of professional gaming, announcing a new “Halo World Championship” e-sports competition.

The event is coming this winter and will offer elite players the chance to win $1 million in prizes, the company announced during its presentation at the annual Gamescom gaming and entertainment conference in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday.

That’s about all the details it’s releasing for now, but the company promises it will have “more to share in the months ahead.”

Microsoft is calling this one of its largest investments in e-sports, though it’s a long way from the $18 million players are competing for in Seattle this week as part of Valve’s Dota 2 tournament.

Halo Wars 2Halo 5: Guardians was already built with eSports in mind, with features like spectator mode so fans can watch elite players. Hosting its own international competition to bring those players together is just the next logical step.

Microsoft also announced the newest in its Halo franchise, Halo Wars 2.

The company showed a brief preview, announcing the game will be released in fall 2016. It’s a sequel to the real-time strategy game Halo Wars, which was released in 2009.

IGN reported in January a Microsoft job posting showed the company was putting together a team to work on the next installment of a “beloved strategy game.” Now it appears we know what game that will be.

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