Microsoft and 343 Industries have unveiled the next Halo game, but unfortunately, it is not the highly anticipated Halo 6.

Fans of the Halo franchise can instead look forward to Halo: Fireteam Raven, a Halo arcade game that will be rolled out this summer in North America.

What Is 'Halo: Fireteam Raven'?

There does not seem to be clamor for a Halo arcade game, but that is apparently the next Halo project for Microsoft and 343 Industries.

Halo: Fireteam Raven is an arcade version for the popular first-person shooter franchise. The cooperative game will be housed within a massive, 11-foot-cubed coin-operated arcade machine that will fit four players. There will be a 130-inch 4K display and four turret-mounted machine guns for the players to use.

In addition, players will be able to use their smartphone to scan a QRC code, which will connect their playthrough with their Halo Waypoint profile to tally high scores.

Halo: Fireteam Raven is set during the timeframe of Halo: Combat Evolved, which was initially released in 2001. Players will take on roles of the members of Fireteam Raven, which is a group of elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. They will be fighting alongside the United Nations Space Command and Master Chief against the alien Covenant alliance, in an attempt to prevent them from taking over the Alpha Halo superweapon.

The Halo arcade game, which was created in partnership with Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix, had been in development for years. Halo: Fireteam Raven will be released this summer at Dave & Buster's across the United States and Canada, with more arcade locations to receive the Halo arcade game by fall.

Halo 6: E3 2018 Announcement?

Fans of the Halo franchise may have been expecting Halo 6 as the next Halo game release, but the announcement of Halo: Fireteam Raven does not necessarily mean that Halo 6 is not happening soon.

It was reported that 343 Industries was already working on Halo 6 in late 2015, the year that Halo 5: Guardians was released. This means that the next Halo game is already about three years in the making.

The question now is whether Microsoft is preparing to unveil Halo 6 at the upcoming E3 2018, which will run from June 12 to June 14. The stage is definitely set for such a major announcement, with Microsoft promising its "biggest showing ever" at the annual event. The arrival of Halo 6, an Xbox exclusive, may also boost sales for the Xbox One and Xbox One X.