Halo Insider members who didn’t get into the first round of closed beta invites for Halo 3: ODST have reason to be hopeful, as developer 343 Industries has announced that a second batch of invites are currently rolling out.
343’s Tyler Davis shared on Twitter that an additional 100,000 closed beta invitations for Halo 3: ODST on PC are in the process of being sent to the email addresses of fans registered with the Halo Insider Program.
The Halo Insider Program is a way for community members and fans of the Halo series to provide feedback on 343 Industries' games, products and services. By signing up, gamers gain the opportunity to participate in what are called “public flights,” or beta tests, for Halo titles in development. Each public flight has a specific goal and often a limited number of available slots, so not every Halo Insider member will get into every test.
Halo 3: ODST was originally developed by Bungie and released in 2009 exclusively on Xbox 360 as the fourth title in the Halo franchise. In 2015, a remastered version of the game’s single-player campaign was released as downloadable content as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Xbox One. The PC version of this remaster is slated for release sometime in 2020.
The game follows a parallel timeline with Halo 2, when a Covenant space vessel arrives over Africa and drops off an invading force. In Halo 2, the ship then jumps into space and the story follows the Covenant to a distant space installation. Halo 3: ODST, on the other hand, remains on Earth and recounts the events that follow the ship’s departure.