Halo 5 Goes Gold, Campaign Is 8-12 Hours

Microsoft's Halo 5: Guardians has "gone gold," meaning development on the sci-fi shooter is "finished." Discs are now heading to factories for mass production ahead of the Xbox One game's October 27 release date. Work began on the game more than three years ago, producer Josh Holmes said in a blog post.

Going gold is an important milestone for Halo 5, but it doesn't mean developer 343 Industries is packing up and moving entirely on to Halo 6 (even though that game is already in production). In fact, Holmes said 343 is currently working on a multiplayer content update that will launch with Halo 5 later this month.

"Of course launch is just the beginning," Holmes explained. "Our dedicated live team will be focused on supporting the game with monthly releases of new content and experiences."

This content includes more than a dozen free multiplayer maps and additional REQ content for Halo 5's multiplayer modes. 343 also confirmed that Halo 5 will be available to pre-load starting next week.

What's more, Microsoft has published a new infographic that includes some key statistics for Halo 5. Among other things, it reveals that Halo 5's 15-mission campaign should take you about 8-12 hours to complete. This figure is based on user research testing. Your play time could be longer or shorter, depending on if you like to zip through or take your time to find all the skulls. It's also worth noting that Halo 5 has a total of eight playable characters for its co-op campaign, meaning you may want play it again and again to see everything it has to offer.

In other Halo 5 news, Microsoft has confirmed that the game's Forge mode won't ship until December.