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The exclusivity didn't last forever. As Bungie handed the reins of the franchise to 343 Industries, the studio gave every Halo 3 player the Recon Armour permutation for free on March 29, 2012, closing the book on one of the game's most difficult unlocks.
Whilst your on the loading screen on December 25th (Christmas Day), if you press down on both thumbsticks a wider view of teh Halo Ring will display and if you look closely you can make out 'Happy Birthday, Lauren!' displayed on the rings surface.
Alongside the classic campaign skulls, Bungie hid a separate set of skulls exclusively inside Forge-enabled multiplayer maps like Sandbox, Assembly, and Orbital, later expanding the hunt with three more skulls on maps added by Halo 3: ODST. These didn't unlock cheats like the campaign skulls did, but collecting all of them triggered its own dedicated achievement.
The Vidmaster Challenges weren't actually part of Halo 3 when it launched in September 2007. They were added almost a year later through a title update released in September 2008, meaning the toughest achievements in the game were a post-launch surprise for the community rather than a day-one feature.
