Bungie denies McCann 'Halo' reference

Bungie has dismissed what was thought to be a reference to Madeleine McCann in a recent Halo trailer as an "unfortunate coincidence".

The teaser trailer for the studio's next Halo project appeared online this week, with eagle-eyed fans spotting the line "Maddie, where are you?" in the short promo.

However, Bungie was swift to quash rumours that this referred to the missing five year-old. "This is an unfortunate coincidence but there is no connection between Bungie's game and the tragic disappearance of that little girl," wrote Brian Jarrard, Bungie's community and PR director on a Halo fan site.

The studio's Luke Smith also dismissed the link via the official Bungie forum. "As always, all of the characters in our games are fictional. Any similarities between real life and the characters in our games are purely coincidental."

"That said, this is both an unfortunate and unintended coincidence," Smith concluded.