In 343 Industries‘ latest update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the multiplayer portion of the game looks to receive significant attention in regards to improving various aspects of the matchmaking playlists.
This playlist update introduces new server-side improvements and also adds the fan-favorite playlist of SWAT.
In this playlist, all players are equipped with a Battle Rifle and their energy shields have been entirely stripped. As one could imagine, headshots are vital when combatting the opposition. Be ready to grab your closest friends and head out across the various maps included under this thrilling playlists. Also, expect to see some unique gametypes including SWAT Oddball and SWAT Capture the Flag.
“As the team continues to work on additional improvements to matchmaking and other areas, we are deploying a variety of server-side updates to matchmaking player counts, as well as bringing back SWAT as the featured playlist,” noted 343 Industries on Halo Waypoint.
Scheduled to arrive early next week, you can check out the patch notes below. We’re excited to see that the player count has been changed from 5v5 to 4v4, but we’re still hoping that Team Doubles will mark a permanent return at some point in the near future once it’s been swapped out with Team SWAT.
12.10 Playlist Update
- SWAT has returned as the featured playlist. It features a variety of game types from Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 2 Classic, and Halo 4, and we’re making additional investments to include Halo 3 in the game type rotation for a future update. As we roll out additional content updates, we’ll be bringing other playlists back into the rotation – these include Halo: CE, Halo 4, Team Hardcore, and future featured playlists, such as Team Doubles, Team Snipers, and more. As we mentioned before launch, we’ll be keeping an eye on voting data and player feedback to determine which playlists stay in the rotation.
- Updated the player count to 4v4 (6 minimum, 8 maximum) for the following playlists:
- Team Slayer
- Halo 2 Classic
- Halo 3
- Halo Championship Series
- SWAT
- Updated voting options across multiple playlists to improve the balance of appearance of BR-start and objective game types.
- Updated the “max party size” for Big Team Battle from 4-6, and the team is working on resolving issues that are affecting parties with 8 players. Once resolved, the max party size will return to 8.
- In a future update, the ranked Halo 2: Anniversary playlist will be moved to 4v4. For now, as the playlist contains a variety of mid-size maps, we’ll be temporarily allowing both 4v4 and 5v5 matches, but have optimized the voting options for this player range. For example, you’ll see less 5v5 Team Slayer BRs on Warlord and more voting options that are catered to the current player counts of 4v4 and 5v5 (8 minimum, 10 maximum). Additionally, you’ll now be able to search as a party of 5. These changes are temporary until we turn ranking online for additional playlists.
What you guys make of the latest update? Does is showcase the studio’s dedication in making the multiplayer experience as best as it can be, or is there simply no hope for the nostalgic online experience Halo fans have longed for ever since the game’s announcement at E3 this past summer? Drop down in the comment below and let us know.
We’ll be sure to bring you the latest news on anything and everything Halo over the next several weeks.
