343 gave details on a new batch of changes that will be coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC) on Xbox One. Since its release, MCC ran into a number of issues, including bugs, crashes, and MCC matchmaking was a complete mess. Going into the new year, 343 is looking to update MCC to avoid any additional issues and give the game the special Xbox One X enhancement treatment.

Redditor Hyperixor gives a great summary a great summary of the Halo Waypoint blog post

They will probably be using the Xbox Insider Program to allow public testing of changes to the game, will start off small but will become opt-in, they are aiming for a March 2018 start
The matchmaking API's will be updated meaning more reliable and stable party management as well as matchmaking.

All of the game engines will be updated, meaning all 8 games could feature increased resolution, visual enhancements as well as possible support for Xbox Arena, custom game browser & mixer support, this includes that all games will include retiling game textures, recompiled shaders this will result in a big re-download of the game when the update is released, at the moment MCC is at 61GB so probably expect the update to probably be around the same or possibly larger.

There will also be faster game to game transition time, better UI consistency and will also means that it will be easier for them to get us in to games quicker after the previous session has ended.

The games network code has been overhauled meaning that they can now work around NAT setting issues meaning that you should have less issues of joining other people.

It also seems that dedicated servers will be guaranteed for all match made games meaning less chances of games being peer hosted.

This update will not affect the development of the next Halo FPS game, as it is a completely different project and only a small part of 343i are working on the update, the rest are working on the next Halo FPS title.

MCC launched way back in November 2014 and didn't seem to be very well executed from the start. It is a breath of fresh air to see 343 show more transparency in what they are planning for 2018 and welcome any user feedback you may have to make MCC better via the Halo Community Feedback Program. Post your questions in the MCC forum and 343 will try to answer them as best as they can.

Posted: Feb 01, 2018 11:48 pm
Last Updated: Feb 01, 2018 11:49 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.onmsft.com/news/upcoming-changes-announced-for-xbox-ones-halo-master-chief-collection