Latest Halo: Master Chief Collection update addresses matchmaking, stability, more

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been plagued with matchmaking problems since its initial launch, but a fresh update from developer 343 Industries' should be available the next time you boot up the game. As detailed on Halo Waypoint, the 523 MB patch focuses on "a number of matchmaking issues, fixes various bugs related to UI and the party system, and also improves overall stability."

While a bulletpoint breakdown of the update can be found after the break, highlights include tweaks to how the matchmaking system handles pairing, a change so that custom game settings remain applied to followup matches, and efforts to improve stability both for the user interface and for parties trying to find a match.

Previous updates have also addressed matchmaking issues, but The Master Chief Collection has yet to reach a stable state for many players. 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross has vowed to "make this right with our fans" once the The Master Chief Collection's persisting issues have been resolved.

[Image: Microsoft]

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