Gamers wishing to pick up Halo 4 and all its add-on map packs will end up spending at least $85 to do so. Microsoft today announced the Halo 4 War Games Map Pass, a $25 offering that gets players nine maps in total that will be released between December 2012 and April 2013. Halo 4's Daybreak map.

The map packs will retail for about $10 each as standalone downloads, meaning those who purchase the pass will save about 15 percent. In addition, players who purchase the Map Pass will receive two in-game helmets ("Scanner" and "Strider") and an in-game emblem ("Falcon").

The War Games Map Pass is included with the $100 Halo 4 Limited Edition.

The first map pack due out for Halo 4 is titled Crimson. It will launch in December and includes the Wreckage, Harvest, and Shatter maps. Following in February 2013 will be the Majestic map pack, which adds the Landfall, Monolith, and Skyline environments to the mix. Rounding out the offerings will be the Castle map pack in April 2013. It adds the Daybreak, Outcast, and Perdition maps.

Halo 4's $25 DLC pass is one of the least expensive such offerings. Max Payne 3, Gears of War 3, Forza 4, and Borderlands 2 each made $30 passes available to users. On the highest end of the spectrum are Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Forza Horizon, which will both have $50 DLC passes.

Halo 4 is due exclusively for Xbox 360 on November 6 worldwide. The game is a direct sequel to 2007's Halo 3 and is the first numbered entry in the series developed outside of Bungie Studios. It is the first installment in the Reclaimer Trilogy, which will span Halo 5 and Halo 6.