343 announces partnership between Halo and MLG for Halo World Championship 2018

Just moments ago, 343 Industries and MLG announced a partnership for the Halo World Championship 2018 with 1,000,000 dollars on the line. MLG will be the primary partner for the Halo Championship Series and will run the two North American HaloWC 2018 qualifying events, as well as the HaloWC 2018 Finals.
MLG isn’t the only partner for Halo esports with Gfinity returning and helping put on the biggest European Halo esports event since Halo 3. For the region of Australia/New Zealand, 343 Industries is partnering, for the third year in a row, with ESL AUS team for that region.
As seen on HaloWaypoint, they revealed the roadmap for 2018:

Feb 16-18 – Orlando Open

• Open to all competitors from any region
• $50k prize pool
• Teams will qualify for group play and travel compensation via weekly online tournaments.
• Teams will not qualify directly to HaloWC Finals during this event but will earn crucial points for their standing in their respective regions.
• $5,000 FFA.

Feb 23-25 – London Finals

• European Open Regional Final
• $25k prize pool
• Teams will qualify for free travel via points accrued online and from Orlando.
• This event will qualify the Top 4 teams directly to the HaloWC Finals.
• $5,000 FFA

March 9-11 – Sydney Finals

• ANZ Open Regional Final
• $25k prize pool
• Teams will qualify for free travel via points accrued online and from Orlando.
• This event will qualify the Top 2 teams directly to the HaloWC Finals.
• $5,000 FFA

March 17-18 – Mexico City Finals

• LATAM Open Regional Final
• $25k prize pool
• Teams will qualify for free travel via points accrued online and from Orlando
• This event will qualify the top team directly to the HaloWC Finals.
• $5,000 FFA

MARCH 23 – March 25 – Columbus Finals

• NA Regional Final
• $50k prize pool
• Top 16 teams in points only
• Teams will qualify for full or partial travel coverage via points accrued both online and from the Orlando event.
• This event will qualify the Top 9 teams directly to the HaloWC Finals.
• $5,000 FFA

HALOWC FINALS – APRIL 13-15 – Seattle

Regarding the Halo WC finals, 343 has said: “Following the aforementioned qualifiers, the HaloWC 2018 Finals will be held right here in the home of Halo – Seattle, WA, where the top 16 teams from around the world will battle it out for a $1,000,000 prize pool. We couldn’t be more excited to be working with MLG to ensure that both the venue and spectacle will match the epic scale that a Halo world championship deserves – both on broadcast and in-person. Additional specific format details for each event are on the way, including where to sign up to compete online, purchasing a team pass, spectating, and more, but for opening details, head over to our official format breakdown.”

Welcome back, MLG! We’re also excited to announce we’ll be recruiting players to form a Halo esports team and take #FearTheSting to the next level!