Halo ends friendship with Mtn Dew Game Fuel, makes Monster Energy new best friend

Is there a more infamous, or more orange, videogame tie-in product than the legendary Mtn Dew Game Fuel? I don't even drink soda and I had a can of this stuff on my shelf when Halo 3 launched in 2007, such was my hype. Since the Halo 3 and Halo 4 days, Game Fuel has rebranded without Master Chief, becoming an everyday Mtn Dew spin-off.

Rather than rekindling that relationship to celebrate Halo Infinite later this year, it looks like Microsoft has spurned Mtn Dew for a new partner: Monster Energy. (Though I have to point out that Mtn Dew has really only had eyes for Call of Duty in recent years, so this break-up may have been long overdue).

Twitter account Halo Collector picked up on a new Halo Infinite Monster Energy tie-in that slipped onto shelves somewhere a bit early, a day before Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase unveiling. (The unveiling will be Halo Infinite, to be clear. The Monster Energy drink is less likely to make an appearance). The original image credit belongs to Facebook user Derick Hunter, who followed his best instincts of spying a Monster Energy can with Master Chief on it by immediately purchasing that can and photographing it. The world needed to know.

The Monster Energy can promises "2XP" in Halo Infinite, and must be redeemed by December 31, 2020. That's our first confirmation that Halo Infinite will have some kind of XP system, though it follows with the progression system for cosmetics in the last few games. Anyone who buys a special Halo Monster can will likely have to wait a few months to use it, unless there's a surprise Infinite multiplayer beta right around the corner.

This isn't Monster Energy's first go at a game brand tie-in (or, okay, even its first go-round with Halo). Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, and most prominently Death Stranding have all partnered up with the energy drink in the last few years.

Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.

When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).