Xbox has partnered with Sky Media for the launch of Halo Infinite, the latest addition to the Xbox franchise.

The first episode of a two-part branded content series launched on Sky Sports’ social platforms yesterday. It saw two well-known Premier League footballers – West Ham United’s Michail Antonio and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha – go head-to-head against two YouTube influencers – Behzinga  and Harry W2S – in a multiplayer battle in Halo Infinite

Alongside the social series, Sky Sports also unveiled two of the game’s action-packed launch trailers in a single ad break during the 16:30 live Premier League game between Chelsea and Manchester United, also shown yesterday.

The campaign will also be complemented with additional media placement for the Halo Infinite trailer across linear TV, short-form VoD, Sky Go Linear and Sky Pub to drive awareness of the new game. The media campaign will also utilise Sky’s AdSmart platform to target non-Xbox users to increase reach and bring in new gamers to the Halo universe in the run-up to Christmas.

Brokered by Carat UK and The Story Lab, the campaign will run exclusively across Sky Media’s AV channels until 15 December, with episode two of the series launching on Sky Sports social platforms in week two of the campaign.