It's Halo Day – Halo 3 Beta to Open Spring 2007

As today is the fifth anniversary of Bungie's Halo: Combat Evolved the company has announced not one, not two, but three Halo-related bits of news, with the major announcement being that the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta is to open in Spring 2007.

The company also released this stunning new in-game screen you can see to the right, from the single player version of Halo 3. Yes, in-game.

Read on for full Halo 3 details and info on new Halo 2 multiplayer maps and more.

Regarding the Halo 3 public beta, Bungie simply states on its website that, “again we can’t really get into the details quite yet (notice a theme here?) but we can confirm that our fans will have an opportunity to play Halo 3 multiplayer over Xbox Live BEFORE the final game is available. You’ll be playing a little multiplayer and simultaneously providing us with some valuable data to help our development team. We’re still working out the details on timing and scope and there will be a lot more info coming in the weeks ahead. We can confirm that you will absolutely be required to have an Xbox 360. Probably not a huge surprise.”

SPOnG will bring you more details on how you can get involved in the beta as soon as we get it. Up to now, we know that you definitely won’t be able to access it with a Nintendo Wii or a Sony PS2 or PS3. So that’s that cleared up!

In other Halo news, Bungie will be releasing new multiplayer maps for Halo 2 exclusively for the Xbox 360 next spring. It has also announced that the first Halo 3 TV spots will air in early December (and also be made available on XBL Marketplace on 4th December).

Bungie tantalisingly notes that, “Shortly after the commercial airs, we’ll be treating our fans to the next instalment in our ‘making of’ documentary series on Xbox Live Marketplace. This next ‘VIDOC’ is going to give some new insights into elements of the campaign and will peel back the curtain on a certain prominent character in Halo 3. We’ll talk more about this in the coming weeks.”