In less than a week, we’ll once again be packing our bags for even more warmer weather. As we mentioned just after E3, we’ll be spending our Fourth of July weekend at this year’s Rooster Teeth Expo (RTX), an annual pilgrimage/celebration of all things Rooster Teeth that we look forward to each summer. We have a bunch of fun stuff planned for those of you who will be joining us on the show floor, as well as those of you who will be participating in the festivities via panel live streams and at-home-on-the-couch Twitter scrolling. Here are some of the things we’ll have going on next weekend!

Swing by the booth!

If you’ll be on the show floor, be sure to swing by the Halo booth and say hello! After saying hi, you’ll have an opportunity to pick up some super-limited-edition swag, wearables, and more from our store. But that’s not all!

Halo: The Master Chief Collection Campaign Demo

We’ve got exclusive behind-closed-doors demos of Halo: The Master Chief Collection going all weekend. This will be your first chance to see Campaign gameplay, UI, and more. To get an exclusive look, be sure to arrive early each day and hop in line!

Play-a-Pro

This year, with the anniversary of Halo 2 filling everyone’s hearts with love and fond memories, we’ve decided to bring a truly old school competition to the show floor.

We’re hauling some giant, heavy CRT TVs, original Xbox consoles, several “Duke” controllers and other sundry treats for the First and Only Official Fourth of July 2014 Classic Halo Play-a-Pro Competition (we probably need to come up with a better name for it…any suggestions?). Be sure to get in line early for a chance to play one of 343’s skilled Halo champions on a classic throwback setup and win fortune and glory. We’ll also have freeplay during the event, so if you’re just itching to play a Lockout 2 vs. 2 with your friends, you can, because we like you.

The unboxing (or was this re-boxing?!) of ancient relics that will soon be heading down to RTX.

The seventh issue of Dark Horse’s ongoing comic series – Halo: Escalation – is now for sale! “The Fall of New Phoenix” – eight months ago, an attack on Earth left seven million dead, including the family of Spartan Gabriel Thorne. Today the city has been opened from quarantine, and Thorne is going home to see what’s left…and what it has to do with the Master Chief.

Halo: Escalation issues #6 and #7 combine to make an awesome wallpaper. Check out the below art created by Sparth, the Art Director of Halo 5: Guardians!

Desktop – 1024×768, 1280×720, 1920×1080

Published by Dark Horse Comics, Halo: Escalation spins directly out of the events of Halo 4. Below, check out pages 1-6 of Halo: Escalation #7.

Visit the official Dark Horse website to purchase Halo: Escalation #7.

Be@rbrick Series 28 Blind Box Mini Figures

Medicom is pleased to announce that Series 28 will be featuring the Master Chief under the “Hero” category as Halo’s first ever Be@rbrick character. The Be@rbrick series is notorious for having rare chase figures which are not shown on the package. I wonder if you can find ours?

Medicom Toys’ Be@rbricks figures are a collectible toy series from Japan which feature a variety of artistic themes on a standard bear-shaped figure. The Be@rbricks blind boxed series features eleven 2.75” figures with art from different categories including basic figures, artist series, and licensed brand figures with each design packed in a mystery box.

The Series 28 Be@rbricks figures are available now in Asia. They will see a North America release in September 2014. SRP $4.99

Be@rbrick 400% Master Chief

Think Be@brick but 4x larger. These oversized versions of the Be@rbrick are 11 inches tall and are sold separately. SRP $79.99.

Halo: Spartan Assault is on sale on Steam! From June 19-28, you can get the award-winning, top-down shooter on Steam for $3.34.

Enlist as a Spartan soldier and sharpen your tactical skills in battle! Set between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4, Halo: Spartan Assault, developed by 343 Industries in conjunction with Vanguard Games, is a new chapter within the award-winning Halo universe. Spanning over 30 missions in vibrant, dangerous worlds, dive deeper into the backstory of Human-Covenant wars and the origins of the Spartan Ops program.

Learn more about Halo: Spartan Assault

Every two weeks we update Halo 4 Matchmaking with exciting new game types, playlist changes and more. You can see what we have planned in the months ahead by visiting the Matchmaking Playlist Calendar, but below you can get details on what’s now available in today’s Halo 4 Matchmaking Update.

Team DLC

Team DLC is back! Play Infinity Slayer, CTF, Swat, Oddball, King of the Hill, Extraction and more on DLC-only maps. The Majestic Map Pack is required for this playlist.

We’ve also added some of the Flag Grab Bag variants to other lists: 

• Shotgun CTF and Mini CTF added to Action Sack
• Legendary CTF added to CTF
• Sniper CTF added to Team Snipers
• Republic, Wanderluster and Opticon added to Rumble Pit