On one hand, Halo Wars turned out to be moderately successful. On the other hand, the developers at Ensemble Studios have been fired and sent away. So what can we expect from Microsoft in terms of downloadable content? A new playable race is probably a bit too ambitious with the original developer to do it, so it's no surprise we're not getting a playable Flood faction that made the released version of the game feel about 1/3 light. A new campaign is also probably a bit too ambitious as well, and the previous campaign was already built to be replayed a few times. New multiplayer maps are always an option, but Halo Wars shipped with a generous spread of maps that looked distinct and played very differently from each other. New units for the humans and Covenant? Hardly, since there's already a pretty delicate balance in effect.

So what's left to do for the obligatory downloadable content?

According to Gamespot, Microsoft says the upcoming "Strategic Options" add-on will include three new game modes.

The first new mode, Keepaway, is an interpretation of the classic Capture the Flag objective, where teams of players battle for control of a free-roaming Forerunner Sentinel. In Tug of War mode, gamers battle to build the strongest army, as measured by unit numbers, buildings, and resources. Lastly, Reinforcement mode matches players against one another, where extra troops are added to each side in successive waves.

And here I thought I was actually going to have to fish my copy of Halo Wars out of the closet. At least "Strategic Options" is a fitting name. It sounds more like a menu screen than an add-on.