Halo 5: Guardians has officially gone gold, 343 Industries head Josh Holmes has revealed. In a blog post on Xbox Wire, Holmes wasted no time in thanking the fans for supporting the studio over the three years it has taken for them to develop the game:
Today I’m excited to announce that Halo 5: Guardians has officially gone gold!
This is the culmination of an incredible three-year journey for our team. Together we set out to accomplish an ambitious vision and deliver a Halo game built from the ground up for the Xbox One. Now as we near the release of the game on October 27, we couldn’t be more excited to share the results with you, the fans.
Additionally, Holmes states that the sequel to Halo 4 will have both pre and post-launch support, with the former being utilized as a means to add content for Arena Multiplayer and the new, large-scale Warzone game type:
We will have a multiplayer content update, prior to launch, that will supplement the online multiplayer goodness with map content for Arena Multiplayer and our all new massive-scale 12v12 Warzone Multiplayer. Make sure you have the Power Setting for your Xbox One set to “Instant On” so that you’ll automatically download the online multiplayer update prior to October 27th and be ready on launch day. Those that buy a physical copy will download the online multiplayer update automatically after you install the game on your Xbox One.
Of course, that’s just the beginning for Halo 5. Players can look forward to continuous monthly updates as well, which includes 18 entirely free multiplayer maps.
Halo 5: Guardians releases on October 27 exclusively for Xbox One.