To say that the Halo: The Master Chief Collection launch was a bit of a catastrophe would be to put it mildly. Sure, for many the title has run as promised, but plenty have been unable to sample many of the exciting pieces of 343 Industries' latest release. Specifically, there have been numerous issues with the game's multiplayer matchmaking.
But, the good news is that 343 is well aware of the issues with The Master Chief Collection, and they are working around the clock to fix them. In the first hours since the game's launch the developer has already addressed some of the game's matchmaking problems, and later Wednesday morning they will tackle even more. Players even put together this alarmingly large list of bugs and missing features which will help.
Since many of these fixes will be on the server side, players will not need to download a patch or update, which is a good thing considering the game already required a hefty 20GB patch. After the fix goes live, players should see improvements but that might not wipe away all issues.
343 also has another update planned for the weekend that will address other Master Chief Collection complaints. Unfortunately, the developer doesn't provide much in the way of proposed patch notes, only that the update will fix a problem wherein achievements weren't unlocking properly. 343 wants to get things right and as Dan Ayoub puts it, they are very committed to delivering on their many promises.
A game as large as Halo: The Master Chief Collection has a massive surface area, and while we made every effort to have the best launch possible for our fans, issues surfaced with launch and we're committed to improving this as fast as possible and get you all into matches. We're committed to improving things as fast as possible so you can have the Halo experience you've been waiting for.
There's no question that Halo: The Master Chief Collection was an ambitious undertaking for 343 Industries, but the game's launch has been no less disappointing to fans. The promise of 4 game's worth of content (multiplayer and single player), as well as some revamped multiplayer maps, was likely too hard to pass up for die-hards, but now they are met with error message after error message. Thankfully, the single player portions, especially Halo 2: Anniversary, seem to run well.
It's been a strange two months for online-focused games, what with Driveclub's stall out at the gate and Advanced Warfare's Xbox Live snafus, but the true test is how developers bounce back after some hiccups. If 343 can get Master Chief Collection running smoothly by the weekend then they should be able to wipe away any bad press. However, if these issues continue any longer than that, they're in trouble.
[Update (November 14, 2014) - Microsoft sent the following statement.]
“We are aware of issues some players have been experiencing with matchmaking. We believe we have identified the primary issue and plan to issue a matchmaking content update next week. We’re working around the clock, alongside the Xbox Live team, to improve the situation in the meantime. Since launch, we have deployed several server-side updates that have shown some improvement, and we continue to optimize the experience. The updates deployed to matchmaking were done on the server side and do not require any extra downloads to your Xbox One. This is our top priority and will keep everyone updated regularly as we deploy continued improvements.”
What types of problems have you experienced with the Master Chief Collection? Do you think Microsoft should have delayed the game?
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out now for Xbox One.
Source: 343 Industries