Arena mode combat on the Coliseum map
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Hands-on with Halo 5: Guardians — Arena mode could turn into an esport

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 7 min

If anything turns Microsoft’s Halo 5: Guardians into an esport, it will be the multiplayer mode known as Arena.

Microsoft and its 343 Industries game studio hope that the esports combat in Arena mode will attract professional gamers, inspire big prize tournaments, and keep players training in hopes of being the next big esports gladiator. I played hands-on combat in Arena mode and verified that I’m no professional gamer. Yet I still had fun as the matches often came down to a final shot, resulting in cheers or boos with each end to an Arena battle.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.