Recently, it was announced that the “Halo: Master Chief Collection” would be delayed due to issues with its launch. The problems were reportedly so bad that the studio, 343 Industries, had to put another one of their projects on hold so they could sort out the various bugs that were preventing them from releasing the collection on time. And understandably, this immediately lead to a lot of worrying among fans of the franchise who were waiting for “Halo 5” – many were convinced that the new game would also be affected by the delays, and were practically waiting for an announcement to confirm that.
And while an announcement was made, it’s the exact opposite of the bad one those fans were expecting – according to a recent statement by Microsoft, the game is currently in the final testing stages of its multiplayer, and so far it seems that it will hit the market on its planned December 29 release date.
When “The Master Chief Collection” was released earlier last month, there were numerous issues with the matchmaking system, and lobbies were constantly overloaded and unresponsive. In addition, balancing decisions were off, resulting in significant power shifts in favor of either team, leading to poor gameplay all around. These issues have apparently not been affecting the development of “Halo 5: Guardians” however, as its multiplayer beta is expected to begin on December 29 as the company has announced before.
Those who have already bought “The Master Chief Collection” will get to try out the multiplayer of the new “Halo” just before New Year, and will retain access to the beta for three weeks, ending on January 19. The game will be playable at a 720p resolution, and will include most of the planned multiplayer features, including many of the new ones. In fact, it appears that the developers are mostly interested in testing how the new additions to the gameplay mesh with everything else, and whether anything feels out of place when tested in actual gameplay conditions.
Microsoft are hopeful that with the feedback they’ll gather from the beta, they’ll be able to make a solid first release that truly matches fans’ expectations, and continues the “Halo” franchise in the way that everyone has been hoping for. “Halo” is a name with a lot of history, and a strong fan base – and Microsoft have a lot of eyes on them with this release. However, the company has shown numerous times that they care dearly about this franchise, and they’re willing to go to great lengths to make sure that fans are ultimately pleased and coming back for more.