Master Chief Collection Plagued by Online Issues, Patch On Way
If you've eagerly fired up your new copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection hoping to slay other Spartans across the globe, you might not be too happy right now. A multitude of players across the globe are reporting having serious issues with the Xbox One shooter's online matchmaking system, which developer 343 Industries is working to fix by today (Nov. 12).
The matchmaking system in Halo games (and just about every shooter out there) typically allows players to find online opponents within a few minutes, but in The Master Chief Collection, some users are reportedly waiting hours before they can enter battle. I've experienced this issue myself, and a quick search for "Halo matchmaking" on Twitter yields a long list of unhappy gamers, many of which took the game's Nov. 11 release date off of work to play a title that isn't fully functional right now.
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On top of matchmaking problems, players are also mentioning frequent game crashes, and that their party of online friends is sometimes split apart at random.
343 Industries executive producer Dan Ayoub responded to the issues on the Halo forums, calling the complaints "well deserved" and claiming that the team is "working day and night to find solutions as quickly as possible." The company plans to issue a series of matchmaking server updates by morning Pacific Time on Nov. 12, with another update scheduled for the weekend to fix other problems, such as achievements not unlocking properly.
"The development team at 343 Industries worked insanely hard to create Halo: The Master Chief Collection for you, and we won't stop until it's worthy of your passion for our franchise," Ayoub continued.
These online issues tarnish an otherwise impressive collection, one that bundles together all of the core entries in Microsoft's blockbuster shooter series for the first time on Xbox One. We praised The Master Chief Collection's rich remastering of Halo 2 and breadth of fun solo and multiplayer content in our full review, which will be updated if these online matchmaking problems persist.
Launch day multiplayer conundrums are nothing new, especially with a game as massive and heavily anticipated as The Master Chief Collection. Until the servers are fixed, we recommend playing the collection's stunning Halo 2: Anniversary campaign, as well as setting up private, custom matches among your online friends.
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Mike Andronico is an Associate Editor at Tom's Guide. He's eagerly waiting for Halo's online matchmaking to work properly. Follow Mike @MikeAndronico and on Google+. Follow us @TomsGuide, on Facebook and on Google+
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