HCS heading to SXSW with news on the Master Chief Collection

The Halo Waypoint website has revealed a whole load of new details for the Halo Championship Series event at SXSW (South by Southwest) in Austin, Texas. The HCS will head to the festival from March 15 to 17, and what's more is that over $100,000 USD will be up for grabs in prize money.

Fans can already get their tickets for SXSW right here, but you can also watch the action online either at Halo's Mixer or Twitch channels from 12:00 CT (18:00 GMT/19:00 CET) each day. You might want to tune in as well, as the Waypoint post promises some exciting news regarding the Master Chief Collection during the show.

343 Industries believes an Invitational is the best format and structure for this event, and we'll be seeing 4v4 competition take place in Halo 3, where the top six teams from the St. Louis Halo Classic event will feature - TOX Gaming, Denial Esports, Team Reciprocity, LUX Gaming, Status Quo, and GMS.

An open FFA (free-for-all) competition will also be available too, and there are Microsoft Store 2v2 events in the build-up to SXSW. Players of all skill levels should go to their local store to compete for the chance to go to the mainstage at SXSW, with players representing each of the four regions in the US:

West Coast: Cory 'Str8 Sick' Sloss
Central Division: Michael 'Flamesword' Chaves
North East: Paul 'SnakeBite' Duarte
South East: Justin 'Pistola' Lee Deese

These players will provide instructional videos before you compete in the January or February 2v2 competitions - on January 27 and February 24 - where you'll have the chance to compete in the $5,000 MS Store 2v2 Throwdown and get flown out to Austin for the occasion. Fans can also vote on official ambassadors in Microsoft Stores to get flown to SXSW too, these being community members helping those in Halo.

We'll also be seeing Microsoft Store Halo events on March 31, April 28, and May 19, but the setting and format for these will be revealed at a later date. For more details and how to register for all of these though, head this way.

Other events at the HCS Invitational include a 16-player Big Team Battle Bonanza in Warthogs, a Rivals Showdown with Snip3down and Lethul, and a booth at the event for those in-person to enjoy. There will even be a Grassroots stream team comprised of content creators from the community.

Open events will continue after SXSW as expected, including Gamers for Giving from March 23 to 24 and DreamHack Dallas from May 31 to June 2, with 343 Industries promising more open LANs in 2019 both for Grassroots and official HCS.

Are you hyped for SXSW now?