Microsoft have decided to run the new “Halo 5: Guardians” through an open public beta, and this certainly makes sense for a multiplayer title being released, as many major publishers have taken a similar approach with their games. However, the company has decided to make the offer a bit more generous than some fans were expecting – it doesn’t require the purchase of “Halo: The Master Chief Collection”, as was initially speculated, and it will be open to all owners of an Xbox One, at least those who’ve already expressed an interest in testing beta products.
Those who’re participating in the Xbox Preview Program should have received a message yesterday, inviting them to join the “Halo 5: Guardians” beta over the weekend. The steps for joining the beta involve redeeming two separate codes, as well as downloading the game’s base files (naturally). It seems that Microsoft are specifically targeting some selected users with the beta program though, as the notification states that codes for the beta should not be shared with other players, and should only be used by those they’ve been granted to.
It’s good to see that Microsoft are willing to test the new “Halo” more rigorously before releasing it this time, as they would likely want to avoid the fiasco that occurred with the release of “The Master Chief Collection”. The set, which included remakes of all previous games from the series, saw various issues with its multiplayer capabilities upon its launch, and players constantly reported being unable to find servers, as well as various other problems with their online connectivity.
It’s also interesting to note that Microsoft are approaching this beta with a more unusual structure than other companies tend to. They won’t be testing all content at once, but rather in several stages, and they will split the beta over three weeks in order to ensure that players can sufficiently focus on specific aspects of the game. Each week will introduce new maps, and even game modes, for the players to explore – and in the end, players who’ve played through the whole beta, will have had the opportunity to check out a total of seven new maps.
If all goes smoothly, the actual launch of “Halo 5: Guardians” should be as flawless as Microsoft can make it, considering they’ll have the support of their entire fanbase for testing and final polishing. Even though it’s no problem to release updates for games, the first impressions a game makes with its initial launch are still critical, especially for a multiplayer title. Those first 24 hours are the period when many players are still on the fence, waiting for the first reviews to roll out – and if the main content of these reviews is about connectivity issues and unbalanced gameplay, the game is surely going to flop, and even its popular name won’t be able to save it.