Major Halo tournaments struggle to attract viewers, and the events themselves are few and far between. So what happened? Competitive Halo fans will point to the Halo: Reach and Halo 4 as the cause of the decline of Halo esports. But is it really? Or is there something else they aren't seeing?
Halo 3
Release Date:
2007
Prize Money Awarded:
$2,318,079.40 From 43 Tournaments
Recorded Date Range:
2007-12-18 to
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is a direct sequel for Halo 2, and replaces it as the competitive Halo game. It was released on September 25, 2007. This is the third installment in the Halo franchise. The game was eventually replaced for competitive play by its successor, Halo: Reach.
Halo 3 concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2. Halo 3's story centers on the interstellar war between twenty-sixth century humanity and a collection of alien races known as the Covenant. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he battles the Covenant.
The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay not present in previous titles of the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, file sharing, and the Forge map editor for modifying existing multiplayer levels.
Halo 3, along with much of competitive Halo's history, has usually been associated with Major League Gaming. The MLG Pro Circuit was where the best Halo players competed, and professional Halo players were considered to be "MLG pros". Halo 3 was considered the best game for competitive play in terms of gameplay and balance.
Largest Prize Pools
Top Players
| Player ID | Player Name | Total (Game) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Elamite | Kyle Elam | $134,500.00 |
| 2. | OGRE2 | Tom Ryan | $95,750.00 |
| 3. | Snip3down | Eric Wrona | $87,500.00 |
| 4. | Pistola | Justin Deese | $84,600.00 |
| 5. | FearItSelf | Justin Kats | $79,600.00 |
| 6. | Lunchbox | Jason Brown | $78,050.00 |
| 7. | Roy | Justin Brown | $77,300.00 |
| 8. | Neighbor | Mason Cobb | $66,025.00 |
| 9. | Cloud | Scott Holste Jr. | $64,450.00 |
| 10. | Victory X | Cameron Thorlakson | $61,350.00 |
| 11. | Hysteria | Jacob Reiser | $61,200.00 |
| 12. | Legit | Bryan Rizzo | $61,200.00 |
| 13. | Tsquared | Tom Taylor | $59,700.00 |
| 14. | Walshy | David Walsh | $50,950.00 |
| 15. | APG | Bradley Laws | $48,025.00 |
| 16. | SK | Justin Mann | $47,450.00 |
| 17. | Ace | Aaron Elam | $45,875.00 |
| 18. | Maniac | Nick Kershner | $42,600.00 |
| 19. | Demon D | Daniel Yakovleff | $42,550.00 |
| 20. | BestMan | Nick Johnson | $40,400.00 |
| 21. | Strongside | Michael Cavanaugh | $38,900.00 |
| 22. | GH057ayame | Eric Hewitt | $37,100.00 |
| 23. | Heinz | Richie Heinz | $36,600.00 |
| 24. | Clutch | Weston Price | $34,700.00 |
| 25. | Soldier187 | Marcos Sanchez | $32,900.00 |
Online/LAN Breakdown
| Location | Prize Money | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Online Only | $156,600.00 | 6.76% |
| Offline/LAN | $2,161,479.40 | 93.24% |
Comparisons
| » Counter-Strike | -$11,306,080.78 |
| » StarCraft: Brood War | -$5,238,710.56 |
| » Halo 5: Guardians | -$4,843,651.57 |
| » Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare | -$293,729.53 |
| » Halo 2 | +$691,316.93 |
| » Call of Duty: Ghosts | +$723,894.15 |
| » Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 | +$838,940.15 |
| » Quake III Arena | +$1,117,187.67 |
| » Halo: Reach | +$1,545,989.43 |
| » Quake 4 | +$1,753,623.83 |
Top Countries
| Country Name | Prize Money | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |  United States | $2,153,437.10 |
| 2. |  Canada | $71,450.00 |
| 3. |  United Kingdom | $38,947.85 |
| 4. |  France | $20,156.84 |
| 5. |  Sweden | $5,414.78 |
| 6. |  Netherlands | $2,897.90 |
| 7. |  Italy | $1,500.00 |
| 8. |  Finland | $1,097.76 |
| 9. |  Ireland | $1,000.00 |
| 10. |  Belgium | $470.46 |