Halo: Pugilist

Halo: Pugilist is a developed by and in collaboration with and published by . It is a spin-off of the and a foray into a new genre as opposed to the series' first-person shooter mainline games. The game was released on May 8, 2025, for and the consoles, with a three-week beta during October 2024. A demo version is also available.
Officially first reported to be in development as early as late 2019, Pugilist's original history dates back several years earlier. Initially concepted by and codenamed Ringster, the original project suffered development problems and was eventually cancelled. However, a few years later, development restarted with newly appointed developers Iron Galaxy, as they strived to make a game that both respected its Halo series roots as well as providing a new fighting game experience: one that was both easy for fans of the franchise to jump in and boasted sufficient-depth for competition for veterans of the fighting genre. First teased at , the game received further coverage and a dedicated section during the Xbox Games Showcase the following month.
Upon release, Pugilist received critical acclaim, with praise given towards its gameplay, graphics, accessibility, and content. However, mixed reception was found with its PC port on the , citing technical issues, occasional crashes, and slower net code. Regardless, the game was well-received by the community and its competitive skill ceiling was a selling point, becoming a common occurrence at several grassroots and large-scale community events. The game's first season pass was announced before release as a pre-order bonus, featuring new characters and stages.
==Development==
===Early concepts===
The idea of a Halo fighting game had been in existence for years, stemming from early plans of an Xbox 'All-Stars' fighting game that put all of the brand's mascots and signature properties in one crossover fighting game. Despite receiving middling reviews about content and a lack of engaging gameplay, the popularity of Sony's own , based on the popular series by Nintendo prompted Xbox to look at making a similar title of their own. Several concepts were put forward, including another platform fighter just like the aforementioned two games, an "arena-style" 2v2 fighter, etc. Notably at one point, making it a Kinect-exclusive full-body motion game was also on the cards before Kinect was discontinued as an Xbox peripheral platform.
Over time, the idea morphed in various ways that made later iterations have little in common with the early ones. Failure in being able to amass all Xbox mascots and IPs resulted in the concept shifting into an original game, then finally a Halo-based fighter. Around the same time, 343 Industries' conception meant that the franchise was firmly in Microsoft's hands, and they were more willing to experiment with spin-off titles and the expansive media franchise than the original creators, Bungie. 343 Industries had already found varying levels of success work with other developers producing the top-down shooters and as well as their long-awaited . As such, the studio was happy to collaborate once more for another foray into a new genre.
One of the noteworthy brainstormed suggestions at first was a three-dimensional fighter; a derivation from the Xbox 360-exclusive . Dead or Alive 4 had been a success for the Xbox 360 as a console exclusive, and the positive reception towards Halo crossover character prompted Microsoft to approach for partnering once more. However, were busy in their post-launch roadmap of , their upcoming soulslike , and other projects; their unavailability jettisoned the game's 3D fighter conceptualization and eventually shifted the developer to Rare Limited, a subsidiary of Xbox. The cheerful response towards the guest character in , co-developed by Rare, finally cemented the Halo fighting game project to be a traditional 2.5D fighter.
===Cancelled prototype===
Codenamed Ringster, work on the new project began in a confidential timeline between late 2017 and early 2018. 343 Industries, who were familiar with the environment of working with another developer, quickly made arrangements by appointing coordinators and supervisors from their side. They were designated to assist with Rare on the Halo franchise, adding to the lore and writing teams as well as a general oversight to keep its spirit in line with the rest of the series. Rare opted to use for the game, as the Hex engine from Killer Instinct was inexpedient for a new game after Double Helix Games' dissolution, and Rare found Unreal Engine 4 more convenient given their familiarity while developing Sea of Thieves.
Similar to the original Killer Instinct in 1994, Rare looked to the popular fighting game entries of contemporary times to gauge the favoured mechanics and features to learn from, chief of them being . Developers studied Mortal Kombat's input systems, presentation, variety of content, and a particular focus on campaign and single-player activities as selling points that allowed the games to compete with other mainstays of the genre such as and . As such, Rare began working on a similar model for Ringster. The game was planned to have four attack inputs of front and back punch and kick buttons. Rare hoped that these simple inputs, along with a dedicated block button would make it easy for newcomers to jump into the genre.
The biggest distinction from Mortal Kombat however was the addition of a second assist fighter; Rare decided to make the game a tag fighter not unlike the recently-released . Instead of simple one-on-one gameplay, Ringster would have two active fighters on screen while two more would be passive, providing assists for their teammate or swapping places to allow their teammate to heal. Combos were designed to be button strings similar to Tekken, and everything was streamlined in order to facilitate a smooth entry into the fighting genre.
While a bunch of systems were planned and everything seemed good on paper, development was not without troubles. Rare faced significant criticism for their latest game Sea of Thieves for a lack of adequate content at launch, prompting the studio to shift focus on the game's live-service model and mend player sentiments. As such, Rare was making slow progress with the actual development of Ringster, and found it difficult to manage Ringster, Sea of Thieves and their long-planned experimental Everwild all at once. While a few of the characters and stages had concept art made, some even getting their 3D renders, Rare couldn't make sufficient headway as Microsoft had hoped. After a reassessment of the Halo franchise's future and the next generation of Xbox consoles, Microsoft decided to cancel development on Ringster, and very little was known of its existence for a long time until years later when concept art of the game surfaced on the showcase website ArtStation, prompting a journalistic effort into uncovering its history.
===New stewards===
Around 2019, internal talks of a Halo fighting game began resurfacing again. Halo Infinite was well underway as the next mainline title of the franchise, with a planned live-service model that could theoretically extend up to ten years. Unwilling to let the franchise lay dormant for the next decade in the games department, Microsoft once again began encouraging more spin-offs. The upcoming Xbox Series X/S were expected to be a return to form for the Xbox brand after a damaged reputation during the eighth generation of consoles, and Microsoft sought ways to repair that reputation by looking back at the Xbox 360's strong points. Particularly, the console had been a hub for the fighting game genre, with the 360 being a frequent sight in both local and large-scale tournaments.
Microsoft called on Iron Galaxy Studios—the current developers of the 2013 Killer Instinct title after Double Helix's dissolution—to develop the game alongside Rare once more, with additional supervision by 343 Industries as usual. Beginning on Unreal Engine 4 at first, Iron Galaxy used plenty of Ringster's concepts and prototyping, ultimately inhering some of the characters and stages. In 2020 shortly after the unveiling of Unreal Engine 5, Iron Galaxy were given early access due to Microsoft as a publisher receiving license to let developers use UE5, and soon enough the game transitioned to the newest engine.
While maps and roster members were taken from Ringster, the biggest change was made to the gameplay: rather than the Mortal Kombat and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite inspiration from earlier, Iron Galaxy sought to look at a wider range of fighting game franchises and conflate many of their ideas into one package with twists and quirks of their own. Most prominently, the new game took inspiration from , forming the basis for a lot of mechanics such as attack varieties, combo systems, gameplay pace, etc. Additionally, Iron Galaxy took a little inspiration from Killer Instinct such as combo breakers. A later decision into the game's development saw the advent of Beginner Controls, a simplified control scheme that unifies punches and kicks into attacks of three varieties, a dedicated special button, and easy autocombos all at the expense of a drastic damage reduction.
On February 11, 2024, Iron Galaxy announced the game's Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe Edition was comprised of a steelbook case, a miniature Metal Earth model kit, an exclusive mini artbook, a disc for the game's soundtrack, and other bonus content. Moreover, it included the season pass for the first year of post-launch content. The season pass for Year 1 of Pugilist consisted of four fighters with their respective stages, story developments, more skins and customisation options, etc. It was accompanied by a massive patch release for various bugs primarily on the Xbox app.
==Gameplay==
==Notation==
Pugilist utilises a four-button attack input layout on the default Classic control scheme. A departure from most fighters that utilise a six-button input derived from Street Fighter, Pugilist instead takes inspiration from The King of Fighters where the attacks correspond to two punches and two kicks, with Quick and Strong strengths:
: : Quick Punch (QP)
: : Quick Kick (QK)
: : Strong Punch (SP)
: : Strong Kick (SK)
However, there are also Medium Attacks, unique attacks that occur when a Quick attack is hit twice. While a few exceptions are able to be executed raw, Medium attacks in general do not exist as separate button presses and have to be preceded by their corresponding Quick attack.
As with all other fighting games, Pugilist uses short-hand text notations to describe various directional and motion commands used to execute several character moves. Like most other 2D/2.5D fighters, the primary system of written notation for Pugilist is the NumPad Notation, which attributes directions on the controller D-Pad or arcade joystick to the number layout commonly found on a . The directions are as follows:
Using this, moves that follow a predetermined motion of the joystick or the D-Pad are denoted by numbers: for example, the quarter-circle forward motion denoted by arrows as can simply be written as '236', and the dragon punch Z-motion denoted by arrows as can be shortened to '623'. Arrows coloured white indicate button taps, while arrows coloured green indicate buttons held for a short while, such as running for example.
Alongside the NumPad notation, players also frequently use abbreviated text corresponding to commonly used motions. Abbreviated notation is generally considered to be more intuitive than NumPad notation, and a huge motive for using it is that it's side-invariant: abbreviations are the same whether the player character is on the left or the right side of the screen. However, more unusual motions or charge inputs seldom see abbreviation usage and are better represented using numbers. A table correlating all three styles is given below:
:Note: All inputs below are described with the player character being on the left side of the screen. For the right side, laterally invert all inputs
Description 	Abbreviation 	Arrows 	NumPad System
Standing 	s. (ex: s.QK) 	N/A 	5 (ex: 5QK)
Crouching 	cr. (ex: cr.SP) 	 	2 (ex: 2SP)
Jumping 	j. (ex: j.SK) 	(or) (or)	7 (or) 8 (or) 9 (ex: 9SK)
Quarter-circle forward 	qcf. (ex: qcf.QP) 	 	236 (ex: 236QP)
Quarter-circle backward 	qcb. (ex: qcb.QK) 	 	214 (ex: 214QK)
Dragon Punch 	dp. (ex: dp.SP) 	 	623 (ex: 623SP)
Reverse Dragon Punch 	rdp. (ex: rdp.QP) 	 	421 (ex: 421QP)
Half-circle forward 	hcf. (ex: hcf.QK) 	 	41236 (ex: 41236QK)
Half-circle backward 	hcb. (ex: hcb.SK) 	 	63214 (ex: 63214SK)
Charge hold back then press forward	chbf (ex: chbf.SP) 	 	[4]6 (ex: [4]6SP)
Charge hold down then press up 	chdu (ex: chdu.SK) 	 	[2]8 (ex: [2]8SK)
Reverse Quarter-circle forward 	rqcf. (ex: rqcf.QP)	 	632 (ex: 632QP)
Reverse Quarter-circle backward 	rqcb. (ex: rqcb.QK)	 	412 (ex: 412QK)
Full-circle (or) 360 * 	360. (ex: hcf.SP) 	(or) * 	632147 (or) 412369 (ex: 632147SP) *
Dash forward 	N/A 	 	66 (ex: 66 623QP)
Run forward 	N/A 	 	6[6] (ex: 6[6] 3QK)
Dash backward 	N/A 	 	44 (ex: 44 SP+SK)
* While a full circle move by description alludes to a complete 360-degree rotation, this shortened motion is sufficient to register the input
Additionally, there are a few more symbols and keywords that help establish notation for combos, Augmented moves, etc., such as:
Description 	Abbreviation 	Example
Simultaneous inputs 	QP + QK 	
Chain combo 	> 	9QK > 6SP
Multiple possible inputs	/ (or) P/K 	623QP/SP (or) 623P
Special cancel † 	xx 	4SK xx 236QP †
Augmented moves 	AUG. (or) PP/KK	AUG.236P (or) 236PP
Throw 	QP + QK 	N/A
Evade 	SP + SK 	N/A
 
† Special cancels are only applicable on select special moves
==Plot==
==Characters==
==Stages==
==Trivia==
==Notes and References==