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Future Halo Master Chief Collection Update Beta Scrapped

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Instead of providing a patch beta for the future Halo Master Chief Collection update, as part of a previously announced attempt to bring reliable stability to the games’ online play, it appears as though 343 Industries believes their internal testing will finally bring a properly working product this time around. That is according to the Halo Waypoint blog, confirming that an audience of willing Halo players will not be necessary for the development team to provide a working product.

“…It was determined that the additional time and work devoted to the beta would’ve actually postponed the public availability of the content update,” Halo community manager Andy Dudynsky writes, confirming the continued observance that getting the Halo Master Chief Collection out as quickly as possible was the main priority from Day 1.

“Lastly, there were some added challenges surrounding the CU beta – including an extra series of required updates and rollbacks – that made us take a step back and reexamine the CU beta. Ultimately, this plan will allow us to deliver the smoothest possible experience, and ensure that the next content update becomes available as soon as possible.”

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We’re now at more than 90 days since Halo: The Master Chief Collection first launched, and online functionality hasn’t been close to working properly in all that time since. Most of the Halo multiplayer maps weren’t even available to play with by the time reviews were allowed to go up, and matchmaking consistency in finding games and creating evenly-distributed teams has landed somewhere between complete destitute and “perfect for half an hour, if lucky.”

Getting a content update beta into the hands of Halo Master Chief Collection players would have meant actually seeing if the game’s online services would work in a controlled, larger environment that expands beyond that of within one dev studio. It would have meant getting data, statistics and feedback from those who bought the game at and since launch, ones who benefit the most from getting online matches working properly.

Instead, the focus will be on getting the Halo Master Chief Collection patch out the door promptly, as opposed to taking the time to get it right in the first place. If it worked to help sell 6.6 million Xbox consoles this past holiday season (the likely reason why the game was rushed to market as a broken product in the first place), why stop now?


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