Astro has partnered with 343 Industries to announce some brand new Halo-themed accessories for the Xbox One.
Xbox One Daily picked up the news from the official Halo Waypoint blog, where it was revealed that the peripheral maker and the software publishing giant have come to terms over gaming gear being made available for Microsoft's new-gen console.
Aron Drayer, VP of Marketing, Astro Gaming/Skullcandy Gaming, commented about the new partnership saying...
"Few game franchises have ever pushed the boundaries of our imagination quite like Halo. With its robust online multiplayer features, compelling storyline, incredibly detailed gameplay audio and inspiring musical score -- Halo delivers at every level,"
Astro will be the fourth peripheral company to join the ranks of Microsoft's limited accessory providers.
In case you forgot, Microsoft changed their rules for companies releasing third-party Xbox One peripherals and console accessories. Companies now have to become licensed providers under Microsoft if they want to make official gear for the eighth-gen console. This severely limits what sort of controllers, headsets and accessories gamers have access to, but it gives Microsoft a heck of a lot more control over what's made available to the gaming audience (for better or for worse).
Originally, and back during the days of the Xbox 360, companies would roll out all sorts of unlicensed third-party gaming gear, from controllers and intercoolers to remotes, headsets and everything else in between, companies rolled out tons of cool, crappy, unique, innovative, derpy and original gear for the Xbox 360.
With Microsoft clamping down on the “quality control” of third-party peripherals for the Xbox One, it severely limits the options made available for gamers and consumers when it comes to buying accessories for the console. I mean, if you want to buy a crappily made, cheap headset from a no-name company pilfering their goods from the backwoods of a Southeast Asian sweatshop, then by all means gamers should have the option of doing so.
Nevertheless, that's not what's happening with Xbox One peripherals, since Microsoft wants to weed out all the lower-tier peripheral makers who used to dump their products on the market for the Xbox 360.
So far, Astro will join the likes of Performance Designed Products, Turtle Beach and Mad CatZ as an officially licensed provider for Xbox One accessories.
Right now the pricing and details on the Halo-themed headsets from Astro are still under wraps, but I get that itching feeling that we'll get a release window and pricing details next week sometime during E3.
I mean, it's a perfect opportunity to release a Halo headset with the highly anticipated Halo: Master Chief Collection that's been rumored to be announced for a fall release on the Xbox One.
I guess we'll find out soon enough.
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