The team at Creative Assembly is incredibly excited to be bringing Halo Wars 2 for the first time to Europe at gamescom 2016! As game developers, having fans get hands–on with in-progress versions of the game are always awesome moments. We get to hear your feedback from playing the game, helping us to build and tune an even better game experience, together.

Fans in Europe will get the first look and first hands-on with our brand new Halo Wars 2 multiplayer map, Rift, on the Strongholds multiplayer mode. At the heart of this exciting new map sits a monolithic Forerunner structure that harnesses the power from the subterranean networks beneath the Ark’s surface. Whilst one half of the map is unsullied by war, the other is pitted with large breaches in the surface as the Banished tunnel downwards to plunder the core’s precious resources. Rift is a visually stunning and memorable battleground providing a huge range of cool strategic and tactical options. We can’t wait for fans to fight it out in this new map and to hear their thoughts.

The original Halo Wars is a greatly beloved game and the team are thrilled to be developing not only a contemporary sequel, but a new chapter in the Halo story. Earlier this summer we revealed Halo Wars 2 gameplay for the first time ever at E3 on Xbox One and Windows 10. This was a huge moment for us and the response from fans has been fantastic.

We introduced the world to Atriox, the merciless Leader of the all-new faction, the Banished, one of the most formidable foes to ever face a UNSC force. We showcased for the first time multiplayer mode Strongholds on the E3 show floor, featuring some of the exciting new units which offer players a range of new ways to overcome their opponents. Lastly, from June 13-22 we released a public beta of Halo Wars 2 and it’s been amazing to receive (and continue to receive!) feedback from fans’ experiences across all aspects of the game. It’s fantastic to hear about the features you love and the suggestions on how elements could be different.

The teams at Creative Assembly and 343 Industries are dedicated to delivering a definitive Halo Wars 2 strategy experience for everyone and having fan feedback as we track towards our Feb. 21, 2017 launch is invaluable. We want to squeeze in every last tweak and feature in and in response to the Beta feedback we’re currently looking at a significant number of individual changes and adjustments being made, including unit tuning, game mode pacing, UI improvements, stability, and flow improvements. For more details about the changes, check out here.

We’re excited for you to see and play more. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a new screenshot from a previously unseen mission from the Halo Wars 2 campaign. We can’t wait to show you more soon.