There Will Be No Free Ruskie Version Of Halo, Possibly Ever
One of the more peculiar curiosities in the long list of worldwide Microsoft projects was the free-to-play version of Halo the company was creating specifically for Russia. The game was based off of Halo 3, only re-engineered as a multiplayer experience supported by in-game purchases.
This game was for Russians and Russians only. A few outsiders attempted to get into the beta testing, but they were banned forthwith. The official title was Halo Online, and it was to see official wide Eastern release this fall.
But not anymore. A member of the development team confessed to the Halo Online social media page that “Over the past six months, our colleagues from Microsoft failed to make decisions on the future of the project. Now we know only one thing — the current form of the game will not be released.”
Microsoft released their own statement, but it was vague on the project’s future, if it has one. A spokesperson for Microsoft said to Polygon, “The Halo Online closed beta test represented a great opportunity for us to learn how to deliver a great Halo experience to PC players. We recently concluded the closed beta and are grateful to all the players who participated in Russia. We look forward to applying the beta learnings to future Halo PC experiences.”