Major Halo 5 Update Monitor's Bounty Revealed

The update starts to roll out on December 8.

By Jonathon Dornbush

343 Industries has shed some light on Halo 5: Guardians' latest update, titled Monitor's Bounty, and players won't have to wait long to experience the new content in-game.

As part of a two-day reveal of what's to come in the update on Halo Waypoint, 343 announced the update will go live on Thursday, December 8. With it comes several new gameplay options, including the Custom Games Browser, Observer Mode, and REQ Gifting.

The Custom Games Browser allows players on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs to search for games in progress from the game's main menu, and the options will be based on privacy settings and when those games were created in the multiplayer lobby. With the browser comes full access to Forge and Arena multiplayer options, though without matchmaking, for Windows 10 players.

Next up in the Monitor's Bounty update is Observer Mode, which "enables any user in a Custom Game lobby to enter the match as an observer." Players just have to create a custom game or join a fireteam currently in the midst of one, and after changing their team affiliation, players will be able to watch the match in real-time. With it comes the Observer HUD, which will show player status and weapon details for up to eight players.

The update will also introduce REQ Gifting by giving every player a new REQ pack with the update they themselves cannot open. Instead, players will have to give the Gold Pack to a friend, and players at Spartan rank 5 or higher will be able to buy and gift further Gold Packs. However, this only applies to REQ Packs purchased with real money in the Xbox Marketplace, not packs bought with in-game RP. A "giftable" icon will denote which packs can be given to other players. Halo Waypoint has full detailed instructions on the process.

Check out a look at all of these new features below:

Additionally, a premium REQ Pack, Voices of War, will become available for $9.99. The pack includes three new multiplayer announcers — Spartan Buck, 031 Exuberant Witness, and Yabda the Merciless.

Stay tuned for more information about the Monitor's Bounty update tomorrow.

A Halo 5 eSports series is currently in the works

Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

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