Though not a complete surprise, it’s a sad day for competitive Halo: Reach fans, as MLG announced they will no longer be featuring the game at the Spring Championship, and most likely for the rest of the 2012 season.

The Halo franchise has been the cornerstone of MLG since the league’s inception in the early 2000′s, and this is probably the first time an active Halo game won’t be a part of the MLG circuit.

This comes at a time when Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is now the dominant franchise for MLG, and with the addition of League of Legends this week for the remainder of the 2012 MLG season, most people would agree Halo: Reach would be tossed aside anyways.

Feedback from the competitive Halo community seems to be sadness, but with an overall understanding of the situation. Mike Rufail, a Retired Pro Gamer and COD broadcaster tweeted: “I understand @MLG’s decision to not hold a Halo event in Anaheim & will always love them, but yet it’s still a damn shame for the players”. Pro Halo: Reach player, Aaron “Ace” Elam also tweeted, “You all act like you expected Halo to be at Anaheim…”, implying that the community knew that Halo: Reach was on the downhill, and the drop was to be expected.

On the bright side though, MLG has been directing players towards GameBattles (owned by MLG), where there will be a new Halo: Reach ladder for teams to compete online. Registration is currently open, and will remain open until May 23, 2012. There is a registration fee of 25 GB Credits (GameBattles Credits) per player, and is open to North American residents.

To register for the GameBattles Spring Halo: Reach ladder, do so by following this link.