Despite launching in tandem with a hefty 15GB day one update, Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been plagued with technical issues affecting the game’s matchmaking servers. But today, Microsoft and 343 Industries have issued a new patch that aims to improve online stability all the while targeting a variety of bugs within the compilation’s user interface.
It’s the latest in a string of patches for the troubled collection, and 343’s studio head Bonnie Ross released the following statement.
“We have not delivered the experience you deserve,” Ross wrote. “I personally apologise for this on behalf of us all at 343 Industries. Our team is committed to working around the clock until these issues are resolved.”
Judging by the length of these patch notes, 343 Industries has left no stone unturned in their quest for stability, so here’s hoping that the hefty update is the last one that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will need for some time.
Matchmaking
- Made improvements to the way the matchmaking system handles player matching
- Made improvements to the team selection process to improve team balancing
- Made an update to the party system to improve searching with parties (2+ players)
- Made further improvements to how matchmaking progress is communicated to the player
- Made an update to ensure that players do not enter a non-joinable state after searching for a match
- Made an update to ensure that the “Game Session” UI does not persist after leaving a matchmaking lobby
- Resolved a variety of incorrectly displayed matchmaking prompts
- Improved matchmaking roster presentation during team creation phase to remove roster flickering
- Corrected a “connecting to host” message that incorrectly displayed during the matchmaking searching phase
- Made an update to ensure that FFA players do not appear as if they are on the red team in the pre-game lobby
Party, Lobby, and Custom Games
- Made an update to ensure that custom game settings persist between matches
- Made an update to ensure that player’s player emblems load correctly when returning to lobby
- Made an update to improve nameplate and emblem display
- Improved the display of emblems in the “Games Session Details” screen
- Made improvements to parties to ensure that parties are merged when the host joins another player and “brings party”
- Made an update to improve party stability after completing a matchmaking game
- Made an update to ensure that players are joinable after playing a matchmaking game
Stability
- Made a variety of updates to improve UI stability
- Resolved stability issues that occurred while viewing medals in “Player Details”
- Made an update to prevent stability issues caused by controller disconnects
- Made an update to improve post-game-carnage-report stability
- Made an update to address in-game stability for Halo 2
- Improved matchmaking stability while searching with parties (2+ players)
- Addressed a crash that could occur after searching in the Halo 2: Anniversary Rumble playlist
- Resolved a variety of miscellaneous stability issues to improve overall performance
Achievements
- Made an update to ensure that the “Zealot” achievement is unlockable