The Golden Arches teamed up with Xbox on a limited-run “Side Missions” menu, pulling dishes straight out of Halo, Fallout and four other franchises, and wrapping it in a fan-first campaign that lives well beyond the tray.
For years, gamers have smuggled McDonald’s into their favorite worlds. Now McDonald’s is returning the favor. Working with agency Leo UK, the chain has teamed up with Xbox on Side Missions, a limited-edition menu that lifts iconic, often mythical foods out of six games and drops them into UK and Ireland restaurants.
The lineup leans hard into fan in-jokes. There are Blamco Cheesy Potato Bites, a nod to Fallout 76’s in-game Blamco Mac & Cheese and, per McDonald’s UK marketing chief Tim Kenward, the item he’s personally most excited about. Alongside them sit Black Pepper & Garlic McNuggets based on Halo’s Moa Nuggets, a Sour Cherry Fizz drawn from Forza Horizon 6’s Japanese cherry-blossom setting, a Sugar Doughnut tied to Overwatch’s Kiriko, a World of Warcraft-inspired spicy dip, and a Candy Crush Choco McFlurry. Leo UK chief creative officer Andrew Long framed the whole thing as turning the tables: fans have been bringing McDonald’s food into games for years, so now felt like the moment to bring the games’ food to McDonald’s.
The centerpiece is a 60-second hero film that opens inside Halo, where two Marines abandon their mission for a detour to McDonald’s and run into characters escaping from the other five titles. But the film is only the entry point. What makes the campaign land with gamers is how far it spreads past the menu.
Gaming creators seeded teasers across streams and social, effectively “leaking” the collaboration before the official reveal. Cosplayers and influencers posted food reviews. Fans were nudged to build their own “side missions” on TikTok. The Golden Arches themselves were redrawn in the visual language of each game.
The digital hook runs through the MyMcDonald’s App, where Rewards points unlock exclusive in-game items rather than just discounts. Players can claim McDonald’s-inspired Master Chief armor in Halo, a Sugar Bomb Bundle in Fallout 76, a car voucher in Forza Horizon 6, and a Kiriko emote in Overwatch, among others. It’s a clean two-way trade: buy the food, get the skin.
That structure is the point. First launched in July 2025, Side Missions was built on a simple fan truth, that a trip to McDonald’s is often life’s best detour, and this Xbox tie-up is the platform’s second and biggest outing. Instead of borrowing from gaming culture from the outside, McDonald’s co-created this round with the fans of the franchises themselves, which is exactly why it reads as participation rather than product placement.
The campaign was created by Leo UK for McDonald’s, with media planning and buying by OMD, PR and consumer outreach by Red Consultancy, CRM by TMW, digital by TMS, and point-of-purchase by Linney.
