An ICE recruitment ad based on Halo has been called ‘abhorrent’ by the series’ creators, as President Donald Trump claims he’s ‘hugely popular’ with gamers.

The announcement of Halo: Campaign Evolved for the PlayStation 5 may have been expected within gaming circles, in light of Microsoft’s multiformat strategy, but nobody anticipated it would be commented on by the White House.

Earlier this week, the White House X account shared an AI image of President Donald Trump in full Master Chief gear, in response to a joke from GameStop that the console wars are over.

A statement about the AI image from a White House spokesperson revealed that Trump really does count the supposed end of the console wars as ‘yet another war ended under President Trump’s watch’ (just like this example, his impact on other actual wars is highly questionable).

The email, sent to reporter Alyssa Mercante, added: ‘That’s why he’s hugely popular with the American people and American gamers.’

That’s hard to believe, though, given that his policies have caused console prices to rise and he once blamed violent video games for gun massacres. However, if this wasn’t already surreal enough, things got more sinister in a post from the US Department of Homeland Security.

Shortly after the Trump AI image was posted, the official Homeland Security X account used Halo imagery for an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) recruitment post. ICE have been carrying out raids across the US to detain and deport supposed undocumented migrants, as Trump aims to deliver ‘the single largest mass deportation programme in history’.

The image, which shows Halo’s Master Chief driving a Warthog vehicle, has a link to join ICE alongside the phrase ‘Destroy The Flood’ – comparing migrants to the insidious alien race in the series. In a spin on Halo’s slogan, the caption on the post reads: ‘Finishing this fight.’

While Microsoft has not yet commented on the image (we have asked them), a number of Halo developers have spoken out against it. Speaking to Game File, Marcus Lehto, co-creator of Halo, said he found the ICE post ‘absolutely abhorrent’.

‘It really makes me sick seeing Halo co-opted like this,’ he added.

Jaime Griesemer, who worked as a lead designer on Halo 2 and Halo 3, said: ‘Using Halo imagery in a call to ‘destroy’ people because of their immigration status goes way too far, and ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation. I personally find it despicable. The Flood are evil space zombie parasites and are not an allegory to any group of people.’

The composer behind the Halo theme, Martin O’Donnell, who ran for the US House Of Representatives as a Republican last year, however, has openly supported the post. ‘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.

Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time US Homeland Security has used a gaming IP to drive ICE recruitment. Earlier this year, the same X account posted a Pokémon-inspired video, using imagery from the series without the approval of The Pokémon Company.

A remake of the original Halo is coming next year (Microsoft)

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