E3 08: Halo Wars slips to 2009

Claims that Microsoft was

planning to announce a brand new Master Chief-less Halo title

at E3 proved way off the mark – and further bad news for Halo fans came in the shape of confirmation that hotly anticipated FPS Halo Wars has slipped until next year.

The new release date is simply a vague ‘first half of 2009′, according to Microsoft’s E3 fact sheet.

Making up for the slip, however, was confirmation that the title will include multiplayer online battling for up to six players.