Microsoft today revealed the future of Halo 4 for the next couple of months. Of particular note is that Halo 4‘s Spartan Ops mode is going on hiatus until January. The first five interactive episodes of Spartan Ops, comprising the first half of “season 1” have already aired. All five episodes will all be re-entered into Matchmaking, one per week, from December 17 to January 14. A “first-look” at the second half of Spartan Ops season 2 will appear during the Spike TV 10th Annual Video Game Awards on December 7.

In lieu of new Spartan Ops episodes, Microsoft will be holding a contest, the “Halo 4 Infinity Challenge.” The contest is a tournament that will track gamers’ personal score in War Games or the number of Spartan Ops chapters they complete. Microsoft is bragging that players of all skill levels have a shot at winning one of over 2,800 prizes. The grand prize for the War Games leaderboard winner is a UNSC-themed 2013 Ford F-150 truck. The Spartan Ops grand prize winner will win an appearance in two-minute appearance in Halo 5.

The contest begins on December 17, but players can sign up starting today. From December 17 until January 10, players will compete in a qualifier phase, after which players will be tiered into three groups for the finals.

Before the contest even begins, however, 343 Industries and Microsoft are releasing 3 new multiplayer maps through the “Crimson Map Pack” DLC. The content will be available on December 10 and a preview of the maps can be seen here.