Bungie always had a bit of fun by plonking its staff's faces onto marines, and now 343 is offering you the chance to share in the (presumably existentially troublesome) fun that is watching a digital version of yourself get mauled by space aliens. You just need to take part in the latest phase of Halo 5: Guardians' ARG campaign.
It all started with a less-than-artfully "glitched" trailer, which threw up a series of symbols, angles and, most importantly a string of binary. NeoGAF (as reported by VG24/7) immediately discovered that the ol' computer-speak spelled out "huntthesignal" - and huntthesignal.com, when accessed on a phone, led to a countdown clock scheduled to end next Wednesday, 6th May.
That website homepage has since been changed to a placeholder image, but a terms and conditions subpage seems to have revealed the end goal - Hunt the Signal is a team-based competition called "glitchHalo", and the winning group of four will have their faces put into the final game.
It's unclear exactly what the competition will entail, but the terms and conditions specifically state that it will be open to US and UK residents only, and require the following smartphone capabilities:
- Video Element
- Canvas Gyroscope (mobile)
- Compass (mobile)
- Geolocation (mobile)
- Websockets
I'd guess that the hasty changes on the site - you can no longer access the terms or team signup pages - mean that this appeared a little too fast for 343's liking. You can probably expect the competition to open on Wednesday - and don't be surprised if it slots in alongside #HuntTheTruth, the ongoing Halo 5 episodic podcast series.
The series has taken a conspiracy-laden turn in the last week or so, and you can see several character's names (including host, Benjamin Giraud) in one of the glitch screens from the latest trailer:
