Microsoft's neglected baby boy Clippy is in Halo Infinite

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The helper is back, though less animated in his new form.

Clippy
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Halo Infinite Season 2 is live. Our resident Halo expert Nat Clayton thought the first season of the game was an "awkward mess" so we're hoping the second does a better job at appealing to its fans. And a great way to please your audience is by bringing back everyone's favourite Microsoft mascot Clippy.

Clippit, more commonly known by the nickname Clippy (yeah, that's a nickname, who would've thought it) was Microsoft's most charismatic help button. Upon researching this article, I was surprised to discover that Clippy was widely disliked upon release. People thought the feature was intrusive and annoying. But as a kid I was only seeing Clippy as a little animated dude on my parents' screens, and personally love the guy.

Clippy was killed-off eventually, along with his posse of other animated helpers, but his influence remained strong. Many people remember his smug little smile with a helping of positive nostalgia. So Microsoft and Xbox have added him into a gun buddy and nameplate in Halo Infinite Season 2. 

A tweet from James Shields shows off both, and I have to say the Legendary buddy especially is pretty great. Though perhaps a potential competitive distraction, I think it would be neat if he animated as he used to when you got a kill. Neat, but obviously a little over the top. As it is, he still looks pretty good hanging from the Bulldog, with that familiar eyebrow raise.

Turns out, fans have kind of wanted Clippy in the game for a while now. Halo players on Reddit had previously created a concept and then fan art of a Clippy based AI - Clip-E. With a couple thousand upvotes on Reddit it's not impossible that this help inspired the return of the assistant in Infinite.

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Imogen Mellor

Imogen has been playing games for as long as she can remember but finally decided games were her passion when she got her hands on Portal 2. Ever since then she’s bounced between hero shooters, RPGs, and indies looking for her next fixation, searching for great puzzles or a sniper build to master. When she’s not working for PC Gamer, she’s entertaining her community live on Twitch, hosting an event like GDC, or in a field shooting her Olympic recurve bow.