‘Halo’ fans furious about US Government’s “fascist” ICE advert

‘Halo’ fans furious about US Government’s “fascist” ICE advert

ICE have shared a new advert using Halo’s Master Chief, and gaming fans are furious.

Yesterday (Monday October 27) the Department of Homeland Security shared an advert on X featuring Halo’s Master Chief driving a Warthog alongside the caption “destroy the flood”. A link to join ICE, the US government agency responsible for the widespread detention and deportation of immigrants, was also part of the advert.

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“Don’t use the game I grew up on to advance your dogshit political bullshit,” wrote one fan. “Only deportation I wanna see is the guy who runs this account,” said another.

“Calling Human people the Flood is fascist ideology. It’s abhorrent that Microsoft allows this,” added a third, with others also outraged that ICE seemed to be comparing immigrants to the parasitic alien creatures that can be battled in Halo games.

“Dehumanising entire groups is literally a major component of fascism. This administration is doing everything it can to create ‘non desirables’. It’s actually fucking gross and insane that the VERY militant and fascist government of earth in Halo is less extreme in its propaganda of ‘aliens’ than the real US government at the moment,” wrote one fan on Reddit,

However, former Halo composer (and Republican Congress hopeful) Marty O’Donnell is fine with Halo being used to promote ICE. “When I defeat Susie Lee next year and get to Congress, I will work with the Trump administration to destroy the Flood once and for all,” he wrote on X.

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In recent weeks, ICE has had adverts featuring MGMT’s ‘Little Dark Age’ and The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m In Love’ taken down at the artist’s request.

Earlier this month, an official from Homeland Security told Chappell Roan to “get a grip” after she criticised ICE during a show in California. Olivia Rodrigo, Addison Rae, Shakira and Bad Bunny have also criticised the government agency.

This summer, a number of ICE raids hit several workplaces across the US with countless people deported for alleged immigration violations. These raids prompted huge protests in LA, where President Donald Trump later authorised the deployment of the National Guard in response.

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Over the weekend, the official White House X account celebrated the end of Xbox’s rivalry with PlayStation by sharing a strange AI image of Donald Trump as Halo’s Master Chief. It comes after Microsoft announced a remake of the original Halo game would finally be available to PlayStation owners for the first time in the franchise’s 24-year-history.

Earlier this year, Donald Trump signed an executive order to implement tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) warned the financial plan would have “a real and detrimental impact” on the games industry and since then, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have all announced global price hikes.

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