‘Halo: Master Chief Collection’ Matchmaking Patch Releasing Later Today

It’s been over a week since Halo: The Master Chief Collection launched and still gamers are reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and multiplayer matchmaking problems. Originally, 343 Industries was supposed to address many or all of those issues in a patch on Wednesday, but unfortunately the patch’s release had to be delayed until later this week.

Luckily, the wait wasn’t too long, as 343 Industries has revealed that the long-awaited matchmaking improvement update is on the way. According to the developer, the update should go live some time in the late afternoon (pacific time) on Xbox One.

Obviously, the highlight of this upcoming update is the improved matchmaking for Halo: The Master Chief Collection but that’s apparently only one of a very many fixes. As the patch notes below show, this update is not just about fixing multiplayer, but has some tweaks to every single Halo title in the Collection, from Halo 2: Anniversary all the way to Halo 4.

Here is the surprisingly comprehensive patch notes:

Halo 2: Anniversary

• Made an update to prevent players from gaining achievements in Forge


• Improved Forge item display names


• Resolved text overlapping issues


• Improved split screen stability


• Made an update to resolve the notorious “-1th” scoreboard text


• Improved lobby functionality to address players not being able to reconnect to the party leader after completing a match


• Improved host migration functionality


• Corrected vehicle and weapon thumbnails in the “Tools of destruction” table in the post-game carnage report


• Addressed a dedicated server issue that caused gameplay physics issues on Stonetown


• Improved split-screen party functionality to ensure that players are not directed to a broken lobby screen after completing a game session


• Improved Forge mode stability


• Made an update to King of the Hill scoring to prevent multiple hills from counting down at the same time


• Improved Shrine objective spawn points


• Improved King of the Hill and Ninjanaut mode stability


• Addressed an issue where controller vibration could persist during the pause menu


• Improved Race mode respawn zones

At the same time, even though Microsoft is trying to make the phases of matchmaking clearer that doesn’t necessarily mean the success rates will improve. That’s obviously what we hope will happen, but so far Halo: The Master Chief Collection has done little to encourage optimism.

Since its initial launch The Master Chief Collection has been anything but an ideal product. The game has been riddled matchmaking problems so prolific that many have struggled to log even a single match and Microsoft even decided to delay their Halo Championship Series. So, as a result, we expect that gamers are cautiously optimistic with regards to the update’s purported fixes, but fully prepared to be faced with disappointment yet again.

Which is the real shame, as The Master Chief Collection offers some pretty compelling content for the Halo fan. There are the four campaigns (including two Anniversary treatments), the four multiplayer experiences, and some completely new content as well. And while gamers can enjoy the single player content right now, many picked up Master Chief Collection specifically for the multiplayer. Hopefully by this time tomorrow everyone will be able to enjoy the various instances of Halo multiplayer as intended.

What has your experience with Halo: The Master Chief Collection been like so far? Are you surprised it took over a week to get these issues (potentially) fixed?

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Source: 343 Industries

‘Halo: Master Chief Collection’ Matchmaking Patch Releasing Later Today