With the final leg of the Halo World Championship going on this weekend, 343 Industries has announced the pool for the winners is now $2,500,000! Follow the action on the Halo Twitch stream this entire weekend to see who gets one step closer to claiming that large prize!

We're excited to announce that the Halo World Championship prize pool is now at $2,500,000! #HaloWC pic.twitter.com/xdzZjLW6Vq

— Halo (@Halo) February 19, 2016

(MacGyver10 23:00:58 UTC)

It’s fun to reminisce, and Masterz1337 is definitely taking us back with his recent YouTube upload. For all we know, it might be archived somewhere on HBO already, but if you want to see some cool developer commentary from the early days of Halo on the Halo: Combat Evolved video game, check out his video he uploaded from the Brute Force bonus DVD.(MacGyver10 22:56:30 UTC)

Tuckerscreator shared a pretty cool GIF that Marcus Lehto added to his Twitter feed last night showing the Chief in his old school, third-person glory of the VERY early days.

Here's a simple gif of the early Halo build pic.twitter.com/8ByF8yHAQY

— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) February 19, 2016

(MacGyver10 16:45:23 UTC)

GrimBrother One surprised us with an early Canon Fodder last night going over some of the bits of last week’s Community Update. We now have lore explanations for the new space station-themed map, Torque, the Decimator and Marauder armors and the brutish Gravity Hammer. There’s even a tidbit on Spartan 010 Naomi’s fate in this week’s exploration of canonization!(MacGyver10 16:41:35 UTC)

When 343 Industries released the Mark V Alpha armor, there were those that were excited about Halo CE’s iconic armor returning to the game, and those that wished they dropped the alpha and gave us the classic Chief armor just updated for Halo 5. The Lionheart shared some of TekkaCroe’s amazing revisions to the Mark V Alpha armor that makes it look like the actual Mark V armor it pays homage to.(MacGyver10 16:37:28 UTC)

There’s been much said on the effect Halo: Combat Evolved has had on the gaming industry as a whole, but the Halo Archive is going back and reliving the impact of Halo: CE’s music by giving you the sheet music for piano. (Thanks Adv Jones!)(MacGyver10 16:15:37 UTC)

We all know people make pretty amazing things in Forge, but Metalingus627 pointed out a really cool map called ‘Andy’s Dorm’. According to those that have played it, the sense of scale is pretty mesmerizing. Add ‘o CUJ0 o‘ to your Xbox Live crew to get the map IGN previewed in this video!(MacGyver10 16:10:43 UTC)

Last week it was flapjacks, this week it’s crackerjacks! Check out the ole ball-game played in Halo 5 thanks to cool scripting and Forge via Halo Reddit. Aim for the fences and download this early prototype from ‘Its PJ BIAAAAAA’ by following him on Xbox Live.(MacGyver10 19:56:54 UTC)

While we all patiently wait for a proper file share, the folks at 343 have put together a gamertag for you to follow on Xbox to access their favorite maps, mini-games and gametypes! I first saw the news on Halo 5, but this post on Halo Reddit gives you a good screenshot to go on. Or you can sign in to XboxLive.com and directly access the ‘The343Favorites’ gamertag to follow them for the files.(MacGyver10 15:50:41 UTC)

From posting news here, to posting news of Halo toys from a giant toy fair full of toys of all kinds…a little bit of an upgrade for our GrimBrother One, but it’s not all fun and games. There’s plenty of info on new props, figures and toys coming our way this year that are Halo in nature. Check out the post at HaloWaypoint to see some of the cool things headed to shelves soon. (Thanks Bryan Newman!)(MacGyver10 15:46:11 UTC)

If you like buying boxes of mystery items, LootCrate is now running a ‘Gaming’ crate that will ship monthly starting in April. The first one has Street Fighter, Mario and of course, Halo, among other gaming properties that will have items represented in the first box!(MacGyver10 18:54:25 UTC)

As is similar to the Warzone Bundle, the ‘Arena Bundle’ is now available in Halo 5 that nets you better chances at legendary and mythic REQ cards with the two you’ll receive every week for seven weeks! Also has a guaranteed unlock of the Mark V Alpha set!

The Arena REQ Bundle is now available! Grab the bundle for a total of 14 Premium Packs and a bonus Mark V Alpha set! pic.twitter.com/zuxBxngCqI

— Halo (@Halo) February 16, 2016

(MacGyver10 19:45:12 UTC)

We said a little bit last week, but our illustrious leader is way too excited to let that dog lie. Along with the many new toy reveals, BoomCo is releasing a dart-blaster in the style of the iconic MA5 Assault Rifle from Halo! I have a feeling this guy will be showing up at his LAN parties sooner rather than later.(MacGyver10 19:38:37 UTC)

Rockslider is hanging around in Halo CE again, starting megabattles and getting up to general shenanigans. Check out his latest videos where he needles and snipes the Covenant by choosing your video flavor in his forum post!(MacGyver10 19:36:43 UTC)

‘Heroes were born in the fire and bloodshed of the wars which followed, and their names and deeds will never be forgotten.’ – Myth: The Fallen Lords Prologue

If you’ve been around here at HBO for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen the <3 logo pop up every February 15th, and each year we as a community reflect on the life of Brian Morden in remembrance. If you're not sure what Brian 'Ar-Isildur' Morden meant to this community, check out the page set up to help us never forget.(MacGyver10 22:11:52 UTC)

There are some people that can never be thanked enough for what they have meant to the Halo games, our founder being one, but the team at Rooster Teeth has also been essential to the growth and success of Halo. For this season, the TV show ‘The Amazing Race’ is featuring internet stars, including Burnie and Ashley from the home of Red Vs Blue! The first episode is now available on CBS.com if you want to go watch it and #RootforRooster! (Thanks Morpheus!)(MacGyver10 15:21:07 UTC)