Seriously On Turning ‘Best Fiends’ Into a Global Entertainment Franchise

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The mobile entertainment team at Seriously has, ahem, made some serious progress with its Best Fiends game, as it has been downloaded over 15 million times since its release back in October, boasting 1.3 million daily active players.

With that, the company has big plans for the game, with a trilogy in the works (the second game will release for mobile later this year) and a raising of $18 million in Series A funding, including backers like Northzone, Korea Investment Partners, and current investors Upfront Ventures, Sunstone Capital and Daher Capital, have also led to an overall fund-raising total of $28 million, which Seriously will apply towards building on production teams and investing in other first-marketing programs.

We had a chance to talk with Seriously CEO and co-founder Andrew Stalbow about the Best Fiends franchise in general, as well as partnerships with companies and YouTube broadcasters, such as the highly popular PewDiePie.

What are some ways Seriously is looking to expand the Best Fiends mobile game into a global entertainment franchise?

We treat our mobile app as a platform for our intellectual property, and are continually releasing new updates, characters and gameplay. What’s interesting about mobile is that it offers the ability to have a direct connection with your audience. We’ll continue to expand the Best Fiends brand with new content and expanding to new platforms that are a fit for the brand.

How will the Best Fiends franchise be marketed?

We are continually looking for new and unique ways to break through with industry-first marketing programs. For example, we have launched campaigns with some of YouTube’s biggest stars like PewDiePie and recently announced a partnership with the Premier League’s Norwich City Football Club, in which Best Fiends is an official partner of the Canaries. It is understood to be one of the first ever mobile gaming sponsorships of a Premier League football team.

What do you think the key ingredient to making a mobile game a success in today’s market? Or is there more than one?

At Seriously we are aiming to build the “Pixar of mobile” with quality games and a strong attention to detail. We are focused on building a fun, entertaining and addictive game. If you can create a game that’s fun, you can build a business and extend the brand from there.

You’ve teamed up with the likes of Kidrobot and PewDiePie for Best Fiends promotions. What do you think is most vital when it comes to said partnership?

Partnerships need to be organic and a natural fit for the brand. Kidrobot is the premier creator and dealer of limited edition art toys and was a natural fit. We’ve worked with PewDiePie on a few different promotions for Best Fiends. He tried the Best Fiends game out and enjoyed playing it. If he didn’t enjoy the game, these opportunities wouldn’t have existed.

Finally, if it’s popular enough, could Best Fiends expand to other platforms Or will the focus remain on mobile?

We treat our mobile app as a platform for our intellectual property. Since launching less than 10 months ago, we have focused on continually enhancing the experience with frequent updates featuring new characters, events and addictive gameplay. We recently released our collectible Best Fiends toys with Kidrobot and announced a soon to be released localized version of Best Fiends for the Korean market through a partnership with Incross. We have further plans to expand Best Fiends in the near future as we continue to build out the brand into a global entertainment franchise.

For good measure, check out the amazing statistics on Best Fiends in the infographic below. The game is available for download now.

The Rise Of Interactive Toy Games

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Prepare yourselves, parents and retailers – the great interactive toy/game market is about to expand. Big time.

With the holiday season fast approaching, three new games will be entering the market that feature interactivity with real-time portals and toys, enabling kids and adults alike to implement their favorite characters into video games. Activision will (literally) hit the road with its forthcoming Skylanders: Superchargers; WB Games will jump into the market with its character-laden Lego Dimensions; and Disney will once again bring back its Disney Infinity franchise, this time with a Star Wars twist (along with Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out and Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron).

On top of that, Nintendo’s line of interactive Amiibo toys has proven to be a huge financial success as well, with some fetching hundreds of dollars on eBay and various others being introduced over the next few months, including a limited edition Super Mario Maker figurine resembling the 8-bit Mario from the original Super Mario Bros.

Industry consultant Andy Robertson recently took a closer look at this market for VentureBeat, providing his analysis on what companies can expect in terms of results. “Throughout, the dividing lines between toys, video games and outside play are being rewritten,” he explained. “This year’s crop further tweaks the balance between costs and benefits to players, as each jostles for position in an increasingly crowded genre.”

With Skylanders, Robertson noted the helpful backward compatibility with previous toys, along with the value of purchasing vehicles alongside characters. “The vehicles are each articulated and come with matching drivers,” he noted. “Although the figurines don’t fit in the physical vehicles as they do on the screen, by doing away with the need for a circular stand, the toys are instantly more fun to play with.” He also praised that the series would be returning to the Wii platform, even though it’s considered discontinued on the market.

Regarding Disney Infinity 3.0, Robertson talked about the various developers on board the project (including Sumo Digital and Ninja Theory), tweaking individual parts of the game so they work properly. But the real key The return of the creative Toy Box mode. “While families may find it frustrating that only certain characters can be used in certain playset adventures, they can combine any and all of them in the game creator mode,” he noted. He also noted the helpful availability of a digital version, in case people already own a previous Infinity Base from another edition of the game.

With Lego Dimensions, Robertson noted a bit of challenge between high price and being new to the market, although various popular franchises like Doctor Who and Ghostbusters will draw in fans. He also noted how great it is to play some content without the need for certain figures. “It still has plenty of on-disc content you need toys to access, but you can at least play a portion of each included brand without additional purchases,” he said. Being able to build your own toys via Lego blocks included in the set is a smart move as well.

Finally, with Amiibos, Robertson noted some frustrations with the market over the lacking availability of some figures, but also stated that they’re easy to use with both the Wii U and New Nintendo 3DS systems. In addition, a team-up with Activision for the Nintendo versions of Skylanders: Superchargers is a smart move, as both the special Bowser and Donkey Kong figures for those games can be used either as Skylander or Amiibo purposes. That said, there are still struggles to overcome, mostly with availability.

The full report can be found here.

As far as the boom of the interactive toy/game market, vice president of Skylanders Josh Taub spoke to MCV, explaining “We are thrilled to have created a category that is now $4 billion over the last almost four years – we represent north of $3 billion of that.”

He also noted, “We have a responsibility in quality of gameplay, toy and experience that is unmatched anywhere in the market, and that is why we think our fans stay with us – along with the fact that each year we create original, innovative experiences with new character sets.”

We’ll see where loyalty lies when all four games launch over the course of the next few months…

How ‘Call of Duty’ Could Change The eSports Game

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eSports are truly becoming a big deal in 2015, between this week’s The International tournament in Seattle (which boasts an incredible $18 million in prizes) and Microsoft’s just-announced Halo 5: Guardians Championship Series, indicating just how serious the publisher is about its forthcoming sequel.

But Activision has been a player in the eSports game for some time. As noted on the official Call of Duty eSports page, the publisher has proudly supported the format with a number of features, including social sharing of game sessions and yearly tournaments that draw a tremendous audience – as well as viable sponsors and online viewership. Even last year’s Advanced Warfare made a considerable dent on the eSports scene, paving the way for better things to come.

And it doesn’t look like things are going to stop anytime soon. The publisher hosted a live Twitch session this morning from Gamescom, explaining all the vital changes that will be made with its forthcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III that will cater to the devoted eSports players. That doesn’t mean casual players will be shut out – not by any means. But it shows that the company is getting serious about what its series means to the eSports community – and it could mean bigger things for the next Call of Duty championship, which is sure to come in 2016. (It’s been going three years strong with great success.)

The CODCaster, for instance, will have enhanced features that make both the spectator and shoutcaster modes within easier for players to broadcast to their fans. In addition, a new “Ban and Protect System” is being put into place, enabling players to pick an item to “ban” or “protect” before each match. These tie in with Black Ops III‘s new Specialist abilities, as well as particular items. Specialist items will also be selected through the Specialist Draft system.

While this may sound like gaming jargon to normal ears, eSports fans will no doubt be thrilled with the changes Treyarch (the developer of Black Ops III) and Activision are making to the game, so that they can get more into matches without being “spammed” by particular weapons or perks they find hard to overcome.

So what does this mean It indicates that yet another big player is becoming more invested in the world of eSports. Like Microsoft, Activision takes its franchises quite seriously, and seeing Call of Duty having a continuous presence in the eSports scene is crucial to its success, just as much as the outreach to casual audiences. It’s a game series that’s built for both levels – newcomers can come right in and learn the ropes, while advanced players can make the most of their loadouts and abilities to dominate each match handily.

And that’s what people like to see at the Call of Duty Championships held every year. This year’s tournament, which took place back in March, offered over $1 million in prizes for prospective teams, drawing players from all over the world to compete. It’s serious business – and it certainly pays off for Activision, as each new CoD game sells well into the millions.

We’ll see how Black Ops III shakes up the eSports world when it arrives on November 6th. The trailer is below.

 

SocialRank’s New Tool Gives Brands Intel On Competitors

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SocialRank is a New York based start-up that enables users to analyze Twitter and Instagram followers for certain statistics – and with the help of a new tool that’s debuting today, companies may be able to get better use out of it when it comes to bolstering its audience.

Per a report from BuzzFeed, SocialRank Market Intelligence makes its public debut today, enabling the services that the company has already become known for, including organizing Twitter followers and providing control over sorting and filtering them via location, interests, engagement and influence. With this tool, however, Market Intelligence can be used for viewership on public Twitter accounts, including brands like Coca-Cola and eBay.

SocialRank CEO Alex Taub explained, “If you’re Nike, you can run Puma. If you’re Airbnb, you can run Hilton and Marriott. It feels a little like you have access that you shouldn’t have.” In addition, Market Intelligence is also being tested on Instagram, currently being beta tested by a handful of social media celebrities.

The service works as a self-serve product that brands can use without needing to speak to the corporate higher-ups. Its current charge is $150 per month per “handle,” although nonprofits and start-ups will be eligible for discounts.

With the service, companies are able to find the “real humans” on Twitter (instead of spambots) and reach out to them with “surprise and delight” campaigns. Companies such as GoPro and Spotify have already been using this service to that extent.

Market Intelligence will enable companies to spend “as much time, if not more time” examining their followers, thus marking a change in resources.

As to why the likes of Twitter and Instagram doesn’t launch its own services, Taub noted that they’re more concentrated on making services better for consumers, rather than examining them. Twitter is selling “more followers, more reach, more engagement,” said Taub. “They don’t really care that much about your existing followers.

“To be honest, if (Twitter) added that stuff, it would just make our lives easier. Twitter is not going to let you run someone else’s account in the granular way that we do.”

Taub also expects to launch this service for Facebook and Pinterest somewhere down the road. How effective it will be remains to be seen…but there are a few brands that are very likely to be interested.

More details can be found on SocialRank’s official blog page.

Now Hiring This Week: August 5

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[a]listdaily is your source for the hottest job openings for senior management and marketing in games, entertainment and social media. Check here every Wednesday for the latest openings.

For last week’s [a]list jobs postings, click here. Have a position you’d like to place with us Email us at pr@ayzenberg.com.

 

Three Trends in Gaming Tech That Could Shape The Future

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The game industry has seen massive changes in the last decade or so that were driven by technology, and more such changes lie ahead. Video games have always been integral with advances in computing and graphics, and in fact most of the industry’s technical expenditures in the last few decades have been about adapting to new platforms and graphics capabilities. Recently, though, we’ve seen the game industry driven not by the cutting edge of graphics and display technologies, but instead by the Internet, social networks, and the incredible growth of mobile platforms (smartphones and tablets).

The changes aren’t over for gaming, though, as technologies continue to drive major market moves. Here are three of the technologies with the potential to create or transform billions of dollars in revenue — and how that’s likely to occur.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
Yes, the media has been all over the wonders of virtual reality and augmented reality. Analysts call for it to be huge. “I believe that augmented reality will be the biggest technological revolution that happens in our lifetimes,” said Tim Sweeney of Epic Games. Manging Director Tim Merel of Digi-Capital thinks the combined AR and VR market will hit $150 billion by 2020. Merel believes the game market for AR and VR will become billions of dollars in size. The opportunities for AR and VR game publishers could eventually rival the mobile game or console market. Talking about the arrival of virtual reality as a mass consumer phenomenon, Sony’s Dave Ranyard said during his Develop panel discussion, “It’s not if, it’s when.”

Yet the actual reality of these technologies, transformative though they may be, is that they are not going to be swift in coming to market. Initial price points will mostly be high, and the technologies will be complex to set up and use, with numerous drawbacks. However, we will see the effects on the entire market in a shorter time frame — in fact, we’re already seeing the effects. Games will need to be designed differently — “We have to design the entire interface from scratch,” said one VR developer at E3. Menu options and health bars and radar can’t be put at the edges of the screen without destroying the immersive feel, or covering up a significant part of what makes the experience work.

Just as mobile games have influenced PC and console games, so too will VR and AR games influence design on other platforms — even before AR and VR truly arrive in big numbers. Developers are already considering the potential for AR or VR usage with some titles, and therefore taking a second look at “standard” design elements. Mobile games caused designers to ditch long intros for games, and that’s spread to other platforms. Elements that are found to work well for VR games will no doubt spread to other versions of the game on other platforms.

Developers are already working in VR to existing titles, such as EVE: Valkyrie or Elite: Dangerous, adding VR capability to enhance game play. Microsoft has already announced a version of Minecraft for the HoloLens AR device, and you can bet there will be more. It seems likely that Sony will connect some of its existing franchises with Project Morpheus VR in some fashion, in order to help drive sales of both. VR and AR devices may be used to help drive adoption of platforms — if you think Sony won’t use Project Morpheus to try and boost PlayStation 4 sales, you’re aren’t thinking it through.

The Micro-Consoles
The concept of taking powerful mobile processors and putting them into low cost consoles (typically $99) has been around for years, but without much traction so far. The OUYA console was the most famous of these, and it never found a foothold in the market. Now, though, it’s getting a second life by helping Razer boost its Forge TV micro-console. Nvidia’s Shield console is also looking to grab some serious attention this year. Amazon continues to add features to its impressive Fire TV platform, which is available not only as a micro-console but as an even cheaper Fire TV stick.

What’s changed to make this hardware more attractive Google has gotten solidly behind the Android TV initiative, and is encouraging developers and hardware manufacturers to support it. Equally important, the CPUs and GPUs powering these devices have hit new power levels, driving graphics easily beyond last generation consoles and in some ways rivaling or exceeding the PS4 and Xbox One (some micro-consoles, like the Nvidia Shield, can stream 4K content — something neither the PS4 nor the Xbox One can handle).

The latest news is that Apple is planning to debut its new Apple TV, powered by an A8 processor, this September — and the device will finally have an App Store, which means games, games, games. Apple has already sold over 25 million of these devices, but with its new Apple Music and (rumored) TV channel bundle, the potential is for this $99 box to sell tens of million of units in record time, quickly propelling it into a similar installed base to the leading consoles.

The result will be a market worth billions to game developers, as mobile titles migrate to the living room — and types of game play that don’t work well on mobile find a ready place on micro-consoles, with a built-in marketing connection to the vast mobile audience already primed and ready to adopt these games. This will be an enormous opportunity for the game industry, and an enormous challenge for traditional console makers. Who the winners will be isn’t clear, but there surely will be some.

The democratization of game creation
The last technology that’s already changing the face of the games industry isn’t hardware — it’s software. The tools that are used to create games were once non-existent — games were coded in assembly language, right down close to the hardware, in order to get the performance needed. Gradually, as hardware became more capable, tools emerged to help create games. These tools evolved into a burgeoning middleware market, but in the early days tools were expensive — thousands of dollars. Development systems for consoles were tens of thousands of dollars, and they were only sold to developers who passed an administrative and bureaucratic gauntlet.

Fast forward to the modern day, when the two biggest game engines in the market (Unity and Epic’s Unreal Engine) are given away for free at the basic level. These engines also support nearly every platform out there, have vast arrays of tools and capabilities as well as thriving marketplaces where developers can get plenty of useful material for games. Android and iOS development is relatively easy, too, and the fact that there are now hundreds of thousands of game developers attests to the ease of entry.

Beyond making game creation easy for professionals, we’re seeing the migration of game content creation into the hands of users. Minecraft shows the enormous market awaiting games that provide a nifty set of tools for users to showcase their creativity. More and more games are including the capability for user-generated content (UGC). We’re seeing games like Super Mario Maker bringing game creation as a fun activity to console players. Steam Workshop lets players sell content they’ve created to other players.

In many ways, the explosive growth of game livestreams can be seen as creating game content. Those creators are providing an engaging experience, through their skill at game play or skill at commentary, and it’s found a huge audience among game fans. Livestreaming alone is driving billions in market value, both from eSports and from streaming services.

The Future is Here
These game technologies are already in place and beginning to drive the game markets, and their influence will continue to grow in the coming years. Savvy marketers will keep an eye on these trends, and look for ways their games and brands can take advantage of them. It’s not just the billions in revenue, it’s the hundreds of millions of players engaged in these technology trends that will become increasingly important in the years ahead.

Brand Content On YouTube Is Booming

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Advertising on YouTube can be a real smart move, considering the millions of users that visit Google’s video site on a daily basis. But there’s some thought that needs to be put into that advertising, so that it not only takes advantage of the format, but also has that clever touch that will keep people watching. And, according to Pixability, the top 100 brands are doing just that.

Clickz recently reported on the data, indicating that more than 184 million people visited the YouTube page (according to Quantcast) with many of them specifically going to the site to watch content from brands. In fact, four of the top ten trending videos on all of YouTube last year were created by brands.

Google’s video channel formed a partnership with Pixability, an ad-buying and video marketing platform, to look over viewership and trends from the top 100 brands. The results are located in the image below, indicating a number of statistics with these brands, including year-over-year changes and other numbers.

Here are some quick facts from the report.

  • The top 100 brands manage to upload a new video every 18.5 minutes, providing a fresh amount of content for users to return to
  • Ten percent of the top 100 brand videos actually last more than ten minutes, telling a story in the process
  • Thursday is the most popular day for video uploads, followed by Tuesday and Wednesday
  • There are ten times more likes than dislikes on brand owned YouTube channels

Clickz sat down with Pixability CTO Andreas Goeldi to get more insight behind these numbers. As far as the most strategic one for video marketers, he explained, “Brands are understanding that they need to play on a high level, both from a quality and entertainment perspective. We’re seeing a significant shift from brands treating YouTube as a dumping ground for commercials, to a destination site for a broad range of branded video content. They understand how consumers use the platform, and recognize the need to guide the viewing experience. They’re getting better at managing the whole channel experience. YouTube deepens a customer’s knowledge of a brand and strengthens the brand relationship in a way that’s not possible on TV, and the cost-benefit of YouTube can be significant.”

As far as what factors most into viewership of this content, Goeldi believes the biggest one is creativity. “Viewership is growing and engagement is up — viewers are actively committing to brands on YouTube,” he explained. “It’s a sign that brands’ YouTube strategies have matured. They’re creating better content, enabling them to effectively reach and retain their audience on YouTube.”

Goeldi also provided tactical advice for creators. “Brands are understanding fully that they need strong content to be found organically on YouTube,” he said. “It’s the second largest search engine, and consumers are actively searching for YouTube-specific content like tutorials and product reviews. As a result, brands have shifted away from uploading TV commercials and discovered the importance of quality content that viewers will be interested in organically. Smart brands understand the need to cover the entire marketing funnel with their YouTube content – from initial awareness, to search, to hooking viewers and guiding them through the brand journey on their channel.”

Critical data plays a part as well. “Subscribership is up by 47 percent year-over-year – consumers don’t just watch videos, they subscribe to brand channels, requesting to stay connected to the brand and be notified when new content is published. Brand-owned channels are receiving 10 times more likes than dislikes. YouTube is a vehicle for brands to build long lasting relationships with their viewers. The engagement metrics are a very promising sign for YouTube’s overall strategy to serve as a destination site,” said Goeldi.

As for the state of growing media investment in ads, Goeldi concluded, “As brands have become more educated on the return on YouTube advertising, we’ve seen investment grow across industries. Industries that have traditionally lagged on YouTube — for example, luxury brands, financial services, and food — have become much more active. We’re seeing high growth rates; they’re catching up. Brands are realizing that YouTube moves the needle, positively impacting brand perception and brand lift. Smart brands understand that a mix of three elements — paid advertising, an active brand channel with a strong content strategy, and creator partnerships — are needed for optimum success, especially when trying to reach a younger audience.”

The full interview can be found here.

Image source

The International Set To Make eSports History

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We’ve seen eSports tournaments become more and more popular over the years, with fans flocking both in-person and online to watch their favorite teams compete in games like League of Legends and Hearthstone, among others. Leave it to Valve to host what is the biggest eSports tournament yet, if you look at the prize pool being offered.

The International kicks off this week in Seattle, bringing together the best DotA 2 players from around the world to compete for prizes at the Key Arena in Seattle this week. And not just a mere reward, either – thanks to the DotA 2 community (purchasing exclusive in-game avatars and items), the publisher will offer a whopping $18 million in prizes. That’s the biggest yet for an eSports tournament.

Fans and media gathered for the event in Seattle before it even kicked off, with players arriving to greet them – some even by limousine, according to the official DotA 2 Twitter feed.

Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve, was more than pleased announcing the kick-off of the tournament yesterday, according to GeekWire. He considers the eSports event the “highlight of the year” for the team at Valve, as well as its many fans.

The publisher is going all out for tournament attendees and fans, doing everything from bringing in an orchestra to perform themes from the game to hosting its own live-stream of the event, which can be found here, as well as on Twitch.

What’s more, it’s attracting mainstream media as well. ESPN, which previously hosted the Heroes of the Dorm tournament on television back in April, will be covering the International to some extent (its coverage can be found here), and it should get tremendous social media buzz all week long, between live Periscope broadcasts from fans and various messages across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Casual audiences can also view the action in 400 theaters across the nation. (Ticket information for those showings can be found here.)

Indeed, eSports are becoming bigger and better with each event. Imagine what 2016’s International tournament could hold. Chances are Newell and his team have already begun looking into it.

‘Street Fighter V’ Marketing: Slow And Steady Reveals

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We’ve talked previously about Capcom’s Street Fighter V, the next chapter in the company’s ongoing fighting series. In that article, we discussed its potential through a growing roster of returning and new faces alike, along with a unique system where content can be unlocked in game without needing to pay an extra cent for downloadable content – certainly a change of pace from what many have come to expect in the game business.

But the real genius here is how Capcom is slowly but surely getting people excited for the PC/PlayStation 4 fighting game, thanks to paced roster reveals that indicate who’s being added to the game. A few weeks ago, the company announced the debut of Necalli, a powerful warrior with flowing locks of hair and an incredible physique, capable of pounding even the most prominent foe to the ground.

Weeks before that, at E3, Capcom revealed two more veteran fighters for the game, Birdie (from the Street Fighter Alpha series) and Cammy, a fan favorite with a combination of sexy looks and versatile movement. Again, it seems to be all about pacing, where Capcom is building up its roster to get people more excited for the game.

That build continues this week at Gamescom, as the company unveiled another returning favorite, the quick and deadly Vega. Wearing a claw that can do extensive damage either with straightforward stabs or ranged attacks, Vega can also grab enemies and slam them to the ground before they even know what hit them. His debut trailer is below.

 

‘Halo 5’ Tournament To Offer $1 Million

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More money is pouring into eSports tournaments are big bucks right now, such as this week’s The International tournament in Seattle providing DOTA 2 players with the opportunity to snag $18 million in prizes. And, with this morning’s announcement at Gamescom, Microsoft is jumping back into the eSports action as well.

Per a report from Xbox Wire, the publisher behind the forthcoming Halo 5: Guardians has announced that it will once again bring back the Halo Championship Series, which will offer $1 million in prize money — a hefty increase from last year’s $150,000 bounty.

Microsoft demonstrated the eSports potential for Halo 5 today with a quick match-up between two teams, indicating that both the Warzone and Arena maps in the game are ripe for head-to-head match-ups. With this, casual players can get as much into the action as the pros — although, obviously, they fight at a much higher, and very competitive, level.

This is the latest push by a major publisher into the world of eSports, as Activision is also doing the same with its Call of Duty franchise. When it debuts this November, Call of Duty: Black Ops III is expected to get a big push behind its multiplayer as well.

“The bottom line is all game developers everywhere are looking for ways to turn their games into eSports titles,” said Rahul Sood, a former Microsoft executive now working as a chief executive for an eSports betting site, speaking with the New York Times.

As far as Halo 5‘s eSports potential goes, Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries (developers of the game), believes it’s all about the players. “The pros who play eSports are famous. They’re icons who people look up to. These are people that fans aspire to be.”

The tournament hasn’t been dated yet, but considering Halo 5: Guardians arrives on October 27th, it shouldn’t be too far from that date. The official trailer is below.

 

This is just part of the huge promotional push Microsoft is putting behind Halo 5: Guardians. The company will also release a special limited edition Halo 5 Xbox One bundle for $499, complete with a 1TB hard drive and specially designed controller and system. Controllers featuring Locke and Master Chief designs will also be available for $69 apiece. These will release on October 27th, the same date as the game.