Accordingly, after a week delay, the 2023 Halo Infinite season is incoming. Indeed, in the form of an exciting HCS 2023 Kickoff Major, the international competition is uniting under one roof to determine an early champion – read on to learn How to Watch this event below!
Event Background
For those unaware, the Halo Championship Series is the highest level of comeptitive Halo Infinite in the world, hosted by 343 Industries.
Spread into regions, every now and then the community is united in what are called HCS Majors. Kicking off the season, following the regional qualifiers, the HCS 2023 Kickoff Major starts next week.
Specifically, taking place between 24th and 26th February, there’s $250,000 on the line together with an enormous amount of Pro Points. Hosted by the Charlotte Convention Centre in the US, here are your competing teams:
North America Qualifier
- FaZe Clan
- OpTic Gaming
- GF1
- Native Gaming Red
- Spacestation Gaming
- BtH BtH
North America HCS Points
- Sentinels
- Rebellion
Europe Qualifier
- Natus Vincere
Europe HCS Points
- Quadrant
Mexico Qualifier
- Luminosity
Oceania Qualifier
- Divine Mind
Read on to learn more about the format below!
Format
With regards to the format, we’re returning to the beloved open format type of event which the HCS hosted all year in 2022.
Bearing this in mind, 343 Industries isn’t making many changes for the second year of Halo Infinite.
Firstly, prior to the Main Event, there’ll be an open bracket, with open signups. From this event, the top 2 from the Upper Bracket and the Lower Bracket will earn a spot in Pool Play alongside the top teams in the world.
Speaking of which, here are the groups for Pool Play:
- A: FaZe Clan, Shopify Rebellion, Natus Vincere, TBD
- B: OpTic Gaming, Sentinels, Quadrant, TBD
- C: Gamers First, Believe The Hype, Luminosity Gaming, TBD
- D: Native Gaming Red, Spacestation Gaming, Divine Mind
Overall, four groups of four teams will compete in a round robin. For those unaware, this means that all teams will face one another once. With each game being BO5, here’s how teams progress to the Championship Bracket:
- Top 2 of each group – Championship Upper Bracket round 1
- 3rd of each group – Championship Lower Bracket round 1
- 4th of each group – Elimination
Once in the Championship Bracket, the final 12 teams will fight through a double elimination bracket.
Moreover, this implies that teams in the Upper Bracket will fall to the Lower Bracket should they lose – an additional loss in the Lower Bracket means elimination.
At this stage, all matches are BO5, while the Grand Finals will be BO7.
Schedule for the HCS 2023 Kickoff Major
For the full schedule, we recommend tuning into the official HCS Twitter page here.
Watch the HCS 2023 Kickoff Major on esportsguide
You can also watch the HCS 2023 Kickoff Major live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Predictions
So, it’s no surprise that North America is the dominant region in competitive Halo. Here’s how the competition stacked up in the Main NA Qualifier ahead of this event:
- #1 – FaZe Clan
- #2 – OpTic Gaming
- #3 – Gamers First
However, it’s worth noting that OpTic Gaming are your defending World Champions from last year – they’ll likely make a deep run at the HCS 2023 Kickoff Major!
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