Hunt the Truth is a fiction audio series and alternate reality game created as a promotional campaign for Halo 5: Guardians. The series was created by Ayzenberg Group and produced in partnership between Xbox, 343 Industries, and TwoFifteen McCann. The series starred Keegan-Michael Key and Mark Hamill.
Background The show was a promotional campaign for Halo 5: Guardians and included an alternate reality game. Halo previously did a promotional campaign for Halo 2 that also had an alternate reality game called I Love Bees. The show was done in a similar format to Serial; the creators researched what types of microphones NPR uses for their shows in preparation.
The show debuted on March 22, 2015 and released episodes weekly for 12 weeks. The show was created by Xbox's social agency Ayzenberg Group and produced in partnership between Xbox, 343 Industries, and TwoFifteen McCann. The show's creative director was Noah Eichen. The story was written by Noah Eichen, Andrew Volpe, and Ian Tornay. The series was released on Tumblr, iTunes, and SoundCloud.
The second season stars Mark Hamill. The second season debuted on September 22, 2015.
Cast and characters Alan Tudyk as Noah Reibach Bruce Thomas as Ari Rezneck Cobie Smulders as Petra Janecek Janina Gavankar as Maya Sankar (aka "FERO") Jennifer Hale as Gabriella Dvørak Jerry Trainor as Michael Sullivan Keegan-Michael Key as Benjamin Giraud Kumail Nanjiani as Mshak Moradi Laura Bailey as Katrina Mark Hamill as Dasc Gevadim Mark Rolston as Andrew Del Rio Peter Serafinowicz as Black-Box Phil LaMarr as Simon Kensington (aka "Deon Govender"), Thomas Wu, and Ray Kurzig Rosa Salazar as Bostwick Stacy Keach as Franklin Mendez Steve Blum as Paul Gustivson (aka "Jakob Walker") Tamara Taylor as Ilsa Zane Tara Strong as Ellie Bloom Travis Willingham as Charles Kesler Troy Baker as Anthony Petrosky Vanessa Marshall as Chur'R-Zhal William Salyers
Reception The first season had over 6.7 million listeners and it reached the top 1% of podcasts on iTunes in 2015 according to Time Magazine. The show was included in the top shows on Apple iTunes in 2015.
Awards AwardDateCategoryRecipientResultRef.Clio Awards2015Creative Content – Long FormAyzenbergClio Awards2015Streaming/Downloadable ContentAyzenberg GroupClio Awards2015InnovativeXbox & Ayzenberg GroupClio Awards2015Integrated CampaigntwofifteenmccannShorty Awards2016GAMESAyzenberg Group, Xbox/343 IndustriesShorty Awards2016TUMBLR PRESENCEAyzenberg Group, Xbox/343 IndustriesWebby Awards2016Advertising & Media: Social Media CampaignAyzenbergWebby Awards2016Advertising & Media: Integrated CampaigntwofifteenmccannThe One Club2016Consumer – Branded Podcast / Branded PodcastAyzenberg / PasadenaGame Connection's Marketing Awards2015Best Social Media CampaignAyzenberg Group / Microsoft / Xbox
See also The Callisto Protocol: Helix Station Splinter Cell: Firewall
References
External links on Ayzenberg.com on Tumblr