Halo Esports to Continue in 2026 with DreamHack, Partnered Teams, and Community Events
Competitive Halo Infinite play will continue into 2026 through a series of events hosted by DreamHack, supported by partnered teams, and bolstered by community initiatives, ensuring the game’s esports future even as the official Halo Championship Series (HCS) concludes its current run.
DreamHack will host two major Halo tournaments in 2026, beginning with an event in Birmingham, UK, from March 27-29. A second US-based DreamHack event will be announced later this year. Both tournaments will feature a $100,000 prize pool, travel stipends for top-performing teams, and open bracket formats, offering opportunities for amateur and professional players alike. HCS will provide tournament equipment, including consoles, monitors, and headsets, as well as contribute to prize pools and travel funding. For more information on DreamHack events, visit their official website.
Several prominent esports organizations have committed to supporting the Halo community in 2026, including Cloud9, FaZe, Shopify, and Spacestation. HCS will continue to collaborate with these partnered teams, contributing to prize pools and coordinating scheduling to foster a cohesive competitive ecosystem. This support is crucial as the competitive landscape shifts following the end of official HCS competition on Halo Infinite in Year 4. Additionally, HCS will partner with community-led organizations like LVT and the European Halo League, providing prizing for online competitions.
The announcement also included details about Halo Fest 2026, a community event celebrating 25 years of the Halo franchise in Seattle. Halo Fest will feature an HCS Invitational for top teams, offering a stage for competitive play alongside broader celebrations of the Halo universe. You can learn more about the history of the Halo franchise on the official Halo Waypoint site. Officials stated they are thankful for the community and ecosystem partners who will continue supporting Halo.
Earlier in the summer we announced that Year 4 would be the final year for Official HCS competition on Halo Infinite, and today at HaloWC we announced some more information about what competitors can expect in 2026.
Competitive Halo is important to you, the community, and it’s important to us as well. For 2026, we’re partnering with key members of the esports ecosystem and community to host Halo Infinite competitions and even one of our own. Let’s jump into the details.
DREAMHACK
Halo has had a long history with DreamHack at this point and they’ve been great hosts for the entire Halo community. We’re excited and thankful to announce that Halo will be coming to DreamHack Birmingham on March 27-29 in the UK. There will also another event at a US-based DreamHack event in 2026 to be announced by DreamHack later this year.
With a prize pool of $100,000, travel awarded for the top teams, and featuring an open bracket – these events across both NA and EU are ones you will definitely want to be a part of!
We will be loaning DreamHack tournament equipment from HCS including consoles, monitors, and headsets, as well as providing the prize pool and travel funding for teams. Both parties are making significant investments in bringing Halo to the amazing DreamHack events.
These events will be owned and hosted by DreamHack with HCS as partners, so you can expect to hear official updates from them on the competition, ticketing, etc.
Partnered Team Support
The HCS Partnered Teams are also stepping up to support the Halo Community in 2026. We are still working on the details and tournament sizing but can confirm that the following teams are committed to partnering with us:
- Cloud9
- FaZe
- Shopify
- Spacestation
HCS will continue to support the teams by contributing to prize pools and ensuring cohesion from a scheduling perspective across the ecosystem.
HCS Grassroots
We will also be partnering with legends from the community and HCS Grassroots partners, LVT as well European Halo League to support them in their Halo events. HCS will be contributing prizing for them to host more Halo online competitions throughout 2026.
Halo Fest 2026
And, in case you missed it, we also announced that Halo Fest will be coming to Seattle to celebrate 25 Years of Halo. This community event will be home to Halo fans no matter why they love Halo, and esports is certainly a part of that.
At Halo Fest 2026, we will be hosting an HCS Invitational for the top invited teams to participate in, which will be put on stage for the fans in attendance and broadcasted for fans at home to watch.
CONCLUSION
We’re very thankful for the amazing community and ecosystem partners who will continue supporting Halo, and we’re excited to partner with them to bring more competition and content for fans.
Thank you once again for supporting the Halo Championship Series and we will see you in the New Year.
Thanks,
Tashi
