Halo Studios reveals international esports calendar for 2026
28 October 2025
Fans of the hugely popular Halo franchise have been waiting in eager anticipation of the game’s plans for 2026, especially since the Halo Championship Series (HCS) announcement in July. That is because Halo Infinite has officially been removed from the international esports series, which is hosted and organized by ESL.
Now, a few months later, Halo Studios and their developing partners have announced the long-awaited international esports plans for 2026. The organization has brought in various new partners within the international esports community and a few new international Halo events have been added to the calendar. Let’s take a look at what next year has in store for players and fans around the world.
Dreamhack Birmingham 2026
Perhaps the most exciting addition to the competitive Halo calendar is the presence of the franchise at DreamHack Birmingham 2026, in collaboration with ESL FACEIT group. We will write a dedicated piece about the festival for our UK website in the nearby future. With the goal of “continuing the legacy of the grassroots competitive scene”, HCS and ESL FACEIT will host various tournaments during DreamHack Birmingham 2026, which is set to take place from March 27th to March 29th. As per the recent announcement by Halo Studios, this includes four-vs-four, two-vs-two and free-for-all tournaments.
“Halo has been part of DreamHack for nearly a decade now and has always delivered an unforgettable experience for the Halo community,” said Tahir ‘Tashi’ Hasangjekaj, Director of Competitive Engagement at Halo Studios.
Second DreamHack event
As if that isn’t enough DreamHack action for the international Halo community, Halo Studios also announced a second DreamHack event for 2026. Neither the Halo Championship Series nor the organization of DreamHack itself have revealed more details about this second event. That is in great part due to the fact that DreamHack themselves have not yet revealed much about their own calendar for 2026. As soon as that happens, we expect that there will also be information available about the second collaboration of the year between DreamHack and Halo.
Community initiatives
The people behind the Halo franchise have also looked to strengthen the relationship with various major North American esports organizations in order to bring more action to the wider Halo esports community. The plan is for the Halo Championship Series to set up different community-focused initiatives throughout 2026 in collaboration with Cloud9, FaZe Clan, Spacestation Gaming and Shopify Rebellion, the reigning Halo world champions. This way, Halo Studios wants to provide more support for Halo communities around the world.
- Cloud9
Cloud9 is a Los Angeles-based esports organization that started with a League of Legends squad in 2013 and that got into competitive Halo about two years later.
- FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan is another esports organization from the United States with a considerable record in competitive Halo, which includes a second place at both HCS Series 2025: Charlotte Major and HCS Series 2025: Dallas Open this year.
- Spacestation Gaming
The headquarters of Spacestation Gaming are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and while 2025 has been a calm year for them so far, they did clinch the Halo World Championship in 2024.
- Shopify Rebellion
Canada-based Shopify Rebellion is currently one of the best Halo squads in the world and as mentioned earlier, they are the current 2025 Halo world champions.