Microsoft and 343 Industries have been running an ad campaign for Halo 5: Guardians called Hunt the Truth, and it has reportedly been a big success.
Halo Championship Series Online Cup 2 Claimed By Evil Geniuses
The campaign has been a multimedia effort combining traditional trailers, audio logs, an online puzzle eventually revealing Halo 5: Guardians' cover art, and more. All of it is tied into the game's central plot, which is so far presented into two contradictory narratives. The official website with the audio and other content can be found here.
Is series protagonist Master Chief a traitor? One of the game's teaser trailers certainly says as much, but a mirrored version contradicts the claims made by Spartan Locke. The 'podcast' has been produced in the style of audio recordings from fictional war reporter Benjamin Giraud, who is reporting on Master Chief's activities. The voice acting talent for the recordings has included such stars as Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, Avengers: Age of Ultron) Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele), Kumail Nanjiani of (Silicon Valley) and legendary actor Stacy Keach.
Weekly Video Game Release Schedule Includes The Witcher 3, Technobabylon
Here are some statistics provided by Microsoft (source: Sysomos English) to show the campaign's impact so far:
- Total listens have hit 2.15 million across iTunes and Soundcloud - and counting!
- The three separate announce trailers for Halo 5: Guardians have been viewed more than 217 million times total on television and online.
- More than 250,000 fans have visited websites for the Halo 5: Guardians ARG.
- To-date Halo 5: Guardians has been referenced nearly 960,000 times across social media since the start of the campaign.
