This is not an update anyone wants to hear, but it may be time to get real about the future of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. By now, you know the story. Halo: The Master Chief Collection was the stuff of dreams, especially for fans who were adopters of the Original Xbox…at least on the surface. When it launched, the series' most appealing feature, matchmaking, was in shambles.
The problem became very public, very quickly and prompted the likes of executive producer Dan Ayoub, Xbox Head Phil Spencer, and 343 Founder Bonnie Ross to apologize for the state of the matchmaking. Unfortunately, the problems with the game still have not been fully resolved even two years later, but that still hasn't stopped fans from inquiring about what's going on.
Perhaps the most clear-cut answer has come from a recent thread on Reddit, where 343's (relatively) new Community Manager, Brian Jarrard posted a very thorough and thoughtful response to the inquiry. Unfortunately, it's not what you were hoping for.
Here it is:
Regarding MCC, you're not out of line for asking for a game you love to be as good as it can be. As I've stated before, there are a lot of legitimate issues and while it's unfortunate that some people have been driven to such extreme measures of expressing their dissatisfaction it doesn't mean the game isn't without its problems. One thing you and others have genuinely helped with is re-surfacing some key recurring, big ticket issues that at least for me (someone relatively new) has been very helpful and getting up to speed and trying to have internal conversations across the team.
I wish I had definitive info for you but right now the future of MCC is still unknown but I wouldn't say the ship has totally sailed yet. Conversations are still being had, assessments are still being made and at a minimum I hope to make good on my pledge to either give fans a legitimate status update or, barring that, face it head on and even if it's not the news everyone wants, accept it and move forward. This is top of mind for me as we start the new year so please know that you and everyone else who plays MCC on a daily basis are not forgotten.
This reads to me as the company's focus is primarily squared on Halo 5: Guardians, a launch which went a great deal smoother. 343 might be weighing the pros and cons of what could be a relatively hefty undertaking, and while it's easy for fans to sit and criticize, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Sure, it's frustrating, but it's important not to demonize over something which in the grand scheme of life is not that big of a deal, especially not without knowing all of the details.
Source: [Reddit]
