As 343 Industries approaches its release date for Halo Infinite , its still committed to updating Halo: The Master Chief Collection , its compilation of Halo games on Windows PC and Xbox One.
In particular, the developer said in an update on the Halo website that it’s looking to bringing cross-play, keyboard and mouse support on Xbox, and input-based matchmaking to The Master Chief Collection by the end of 2020. Cross-play, input-based matchmaking, and server region selection are expected to launch together, with a custom game browser and mouse and keyboard support for Xbox launching as a package.
Cross-play means that players across Xbox consoles and Windows PC will be able to play together. Input-based matchmaking and keyboard and mouse support enhance that. Input-based matchmaking means you’ll likely be matched with players using the same input device (like a controller or keyboard and mouse) as you. Keyboard and mouse support, of course, gives console players the option to use the peripherals.
Yes! Growing big games like halo into multi ecosystem platforms is great for player base health and map diversity
This is great. Wonder how they are moving going forward. Like since halo Infinite mp will be f2p, could it be a part of halo MCC?
This is the biggest thing to me. While I love using crossplay in COD to play with my PS4 friends, I hate that there is no way to filter out PC users who are on mouse and KB.
Sea of Thieves learned this the hard way. Luckily they’ve fixed it in the end.
This, I really don’t like the option to not filter out pc players on FPS games. I don’t care if it’s something like borderlands or anything non competitive just hate being matched up against the obvious superior input method. Not only that but even on Warzone the FOV advantage pc has is pretty big to the point a Pc player could simply see someone at console player couldn’t.
It’s extremely unlikely they’ll ever add more games to the MCC. It’s already RAM limited on the Xbox One (they barely fit in the new Unreal based 3D menu previews on the base Xbox One) and adding any game actually from the One or later isn’t gonna really work out.
I expect at most they’ll have quicklaunch options for Halo 5 and Infinite from inside the MCC, but that’s it.
Awesome news. I like things like this
Now that you mention it I remember that. Shame. Would have love have a single launch and community for all things halo.
I hope there’s a toggle for the input based matchmaking.
It seemed like they were kiiiiiinda going there with the Halo app on Windows (the one you had to launch Halo Wars 2 and Halo 5 Forge from) but that app is clearly been made redundant by now with the new Xbox (beta) app on Windows. I don’t think that app even acknowledges the PC MCC.
The other issue is the reason the MCC is even feasible is how the legacy Halo titles were really just loading and deloading individual level files all the time - they don’t actually cross into each other - so the MCC’s “hack” of basically just being a giant menu tree that points at each individual level file is what let them more easily have multiple games from the same UI. But with the way Infinite’s campaign is looking, it might be a continually streamed overworld so there isn’t really individual levels partitioned from each other anymore. But more like ‘tiles’. Can’t really make that work in the MCC context.
(also, the downside of how the MCC just loads the entire game’s runtime and then the level each time it wants to go to another level also means we lost all the hidden cutscene loads in Halo 2/3/Reach, so the transition from Delta Halo to Regret is no longer seamless. It’s a minor gripe, but it’s a downside of the MCC model)
The really exciting thing about this is that the X1 version of the MCC is getting keyboard and mouse support.
I’m excited to finally play Halo with a mouse again.
MCC launched in an appalling state but the way Microsoft and 343 turned it around is astonishing. It’s an insane package that is getting better every few months.
Comletely agree. They took it on the chin and really knucked down and are making it one of the greatest collections ever.
Can everyone just imagine, for one moment, if it released in this state back at launch?