[UPDATE] – Sources at Bungie have since debunked this rumour at Halo.Bungie.Org. See bottom of post.

We’re always a little hesitant to contribute to the seemingly endless amount of rumour and speculation that exists online but for once, we’ll make an exception. If anything, someone will come along to illustrate exactly how we’re barking up the wrong tree.

Regular readers of EDGE magazine will recognize the image at the bottom of this post as a teaser for their “January” issue, due to hit shelves on November 24th and a tradition they have been running for as long as I can remember. Usually the teasers are fairly abstract and fun can be had online trying to work out what it might be referring to. As a big Halo fan, the first thing this month’s reminded me was however, was the trailer and imagery for Halo: Reach

Could this be the feature of EDGE’s next issue? My initial conviction was overwhelming amidst my excitement and whilst I’ve adopted a little more caution now, I can’t think of what else it might be (though games like Elite 4 or the EVE:Online spin off Dust 514 would spring to mind as potentials).

It’s certainly feasible that Reach info would drop around this time. Recent Bungie Weekly Updates have just started to include snippets as to how Reach’s development is going. The first pre-alpha previews for Halo 3 went online around the end of November 2006 and like Halo 3, there will be a beta of Halo: Reach which presumably will be released on a similar timescale to it’s predecessor, i.e. in the first half of 2010.

It’s not just the Halo: Reach imagery either, the teaser bears some resemblance to the post-credits cinematic after beating Halo 3 on legendary difficulty. (Starts at 02:55 – Spoilers if you haven’t finished it!). At the time, most speculation assumed that was teasing a Halo 4 and the continuation of the Master Chief’s story. We know another Halo game is being worked on by 343 Industries so this is just as probable but they are strikingly similar.

We’re working up another source who might be able to at least rule this out. Unusually, we couldn’t find any discussion online amongst people who might have noticed the same thing so perhaps it’s us! If we’re wrong on this one though, we’ll be interested to know exactly what this is. Let us know what you think!

Update 1: A poster on the Halo.Bungie.Org forum outlines why the connection to the end of Halo 3 is likely hokum and has nothing to do with this. My main point was really the similar imagery being used though admittedly I didn’t write it that way. Just as well because;-

Update 2: Word from Bungie came in the same thread confirming “no Reach story in EDGE (or any magazine) next month”. Sadly that leaves our Halo rumours track record in tatters at only 50%! Many people have speculated that it is in fact related to Mass Effect 2. Having had a chance to review this trailer again, I can only concur that’s the most likely outcome, even without the official word above. In my defence, it always had a blue tint in the trailers for the first game!

I’ll still contend that it’s a strange time for EDGE to do a Mass Effect 2 feature as it releases late January. Perhaps they read our post on Bioware’s flirtations with a permadeath mechanic (of sorts) and liked it Anyway, thanks to everyone for their comments. We are at least almost as excited about as that as we are about Halo: Reach.