Yesterday, the Halo social media team did a fabulous job creating hype for gamers, and this just went berserk within a couple of hours. It does sound like an almost unimaginably unprecedented flood of thousands upon thousands of replies within the parametric span of a few hours. The giveaway was for the official audiobook of Halo: New Blood, the book that gives you the backstory of everyone’s favorite ODST-turned-Spartan, Edward Buck. And this is making the gamers happy!
The rules just required that you reply with the fire emoji for a chance to win one of five Spotify copies of the audiobook from Simon Audio. Winners will be randomly chosen after 10 AM PT on August 22. The reactions, though, are quite something to behold. Behind every visor is a story waiting to be told, the tweet says, and that may become very deep if you actually think about it. But this is what you find when you scroll down the replies… Chaos ensues.
Almost everyone is fulfilling their part of the instruction – bombarding the responses with the fire emoji, that is. I mean replies from, among others, Vivi, Mr_Blinx_, Dan Lennon, Lucas Fields, and dozens of others, all posting 🔥. A couple got more creative; one user posted eight fire emojis, another replied with “hell yeah 😁🤘” and the fire emoji, and one of my favorites read, “I can’t read,” yet still posted the fire emoji anyway. Bruh, it’s an audiobook; you don’t have to read! That’s the whole point!
Some of the historic drama stirred within the replies will be recognized by those who’ve been in the Halo community for some time. Two or three people started going on about how this book seems to be where they finally killed off the Rookie character from Halo 3: ODST, and they’re still pissed about it. One user outright said, “You killed the rookie….in a book. Bad not 343 bad!” Another said, “Oh. It’s the book where they killed off the Rookie in an insulting manner. No thanks.” So seemingly the ill will still lingers, and even a free audiobook isn’t capable of mending it.
Then we have this hilarious reply from Taco: “WONDERFUL book but I will not forgive them for what they did… But YEAH love the story from Buck’s perspective, is a real nice read!” So, even those who are angry admit it’s a good book? This emotional struggle is very real.
Then we have a regular “I’ll pirate this” from some dude named goat, which… yeah, that’s just the internet. How about bobflac, who delves into this long thing about being 68 years old and 42 years a gamer who’s owned all PlayStations, Xbox, Sega, “plus many more,” and wants a copy before he’s “too old too play.” Sir, might I gently advise you to sit down for this… can’t quite imagine how you shall manage: Audiobooks do not require any gaming skills! Just press play!
What’s actually cool, though, is all the folks who are truly hyped about hearing more of Buck’s story. Jacopokpp replied with “Now on my Audible wishlist,” followed by fire emojis. Timraider57 said, “I need something to listen to I reckon.” So, regardless of whether or not they win the giveaway, people are actually interested in the story.
For those unaware, Edward Buck has been around since Halo 3: ODST, where he was part of your squad-a little humor injected-thanks for the good memories! And then he showed up again in Halo 5: Guardians as a Spartan-IV. Nathan Fillion voices him in the games, so he’s automatically cool. Apparently, the book covers his transition from ODST to Spartan, which is, like, a pretty big deal in the Halo universe because not everyone makes that pass successfully.
This gave away the fact that response to this giveaway demonstrates how much Halo players are invested in the universe’s lore and characters outside the games. Whether they’re angry about some character deaths from years ago or just being eager to know more about one of the more charismatic characters of the series, clearly, people do care about this.
Free stuff is free stuff, yeah. Even if you’re still cranky about what happened to Rookie, you can’t really argue much about some free Halo content. Winners will be announced on August 22, so if you’re reading this before the date, it’s about time you went ahead and dropped a fire emoji on the original tweet. Worst case, you don’t win but show some support for one of gaming’s most iconic franchises. Best case? You listen to Buck’s story while driving, working, pretending to work, you know how it goes.
In essence, it emphasizes that the Halo universe stretches further beyond just the games, and players want more tales from this land. Be it books, audiobooks, or what’s next; the community is reached and ready to dive into more Halo content. Even though some are still hungover from certain decisions made years ago. But that’s fandom for you; you can love and still be critical of it. What matters is the passion.
