Halo was originally developed by Bungie, the studio that went on to develop the Destiny series for Activision. However, following Bungie’s departure from Microsoft following the release of Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach, Microsoft formed 343 Industries to continue the series. This lead to the release of Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and the recently released Halo Infinite. 343 also developed remasters of previous Halo games, such as Combat Evolved Anniversary and The Master Chief Collection.

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Players have managed to put the same amount of time into these new titles as the original versions developed by Bungie, and it seems some have even gotten a little creative with how they do so. On Reddit’s r/Halo, user Half_Smashed_Face stated that they put an exact amount of hours into each game from the The Master Chief Collection to receive a specifically numbered playtime.

The noted play time of 117 hours is a direct reference to Halo’s main protagonist Master Chief, or as his full rank in the UNSC denotes him, Master Chief Petty Officer John 117. Master Chief is one of the many super soldiers referred to as “Spartans” in the series, known for their towering stature and their combat prowess, raised and trained since childhood to fight for the UNSC against the Covenant.

This is a fun and cheeky nod to a character many have considered one of the most iconic in all of video games, recognizable for his green-colored armor and helmet as well as Steve Downes’ Eastwood-esque performance. Master Chief has become so popular that he has crossed over into other games, such as the Xbox One version of Super Bomberman R and as a player skin in Fortnite.

While the success of Halo is not without its detractors, it is hard not to see the popularity of the series continuing to flourish, as fan tributes like this playtime screenshot and a recent fan-made character skin for Overwatch are great examples of this. As the series continues to grow, there will surely be more references like these in the future.

Halo Infinite is now available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: Reddit