Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the fourth installment of its Halo series will be available for Xbox 360 on November 6, 2012 -- otherwise known as Election Day.
According to a press release issued today, the game's narrative will pick up four years after the events of Halo 3, which was released in 2007. At the end of that game, the series' protagonist Master Chief was alive but separated from the human race and heading to an unknown planet with his A.I. sidekick Cortana.
"Master Chief returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe," Microsoft said in the press release.
Halo 4's launch coincides with the release dates of a number of other popular games including Assassin's Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and Grand Theft Auto V, Games Radar reports.
But if Halo 4 performs as well as its predecessor, it should have no trouble putting up some big numbers. Bolstered by more than 4 million pre-orders, Halo 3 became the fastest-selling game in history when it was released in 2007.
That record was broken in 2011 by Call of Duty: Black Ops, which earned $1 billion in sales after just 42 days of release - so taking back the crown will be no easy challenge for Microsoft.
Fans can judge for themselves tonight whether the game appears to live up to expectation. Reports have surfaced on Twitter that Miscrosoft will preview a segment of the game on "Conan," airing at 11 p.m. tonight on TBS.
Check out a sneak peak of the new game released by Microsoft earlier this year: