Halo Devs ‘Exploring’ Microtransactions For Master Chief Collection, An 8-Year-Old Game
Image: 343 Industries
It’s one factor for free-to-play shooter Halo Infinite to have microtransactions. Now Halo: The Master Chief Collection, a first-person shooter with a price ticket, would possibly see one thing comparable. Maybe. Developer 343 remains to be “exploring” a “potential” framework “for the future.”
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Introducing microtransactions would possibly appear to be an odd step for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which is sort of eight years previous and has already had one of many extra publicly turbulent receptions in fashionable gaming.
First launched in 2014, Halo: The Master Chief Collection combines the primary 4 mainline Halo video games—and their common multiplayer elements—however stumbled out of the gate with some critical connectivity woes. It took fairly some time and a ton of updates, however by 2019, Master Chief Collection locked a spot as the most effective multiplayer shooters round. The participant base was additional invigorated in 2020 following buzz for the then-forthcoming Halo Infinite.
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“We are internally exploring a potential new feature for the future in the form of purchasable Spartan Points,” 343’s Alex Wakeford wrote in a weblog publish. “It is prudent to note here that we are happy with the current system of how players earn Spartan Points, by completing challenges and leveling up through play. This would be an optional, additive alternative for players who might find the vast scope of content to be an intimidating amount of playtime and want to get ahead on (or skip) the grind.”
Needless to say, the Halo neighborhood is just not joyful.
“It’s a mistake,” Taras, a Halo-focused content material creator generally known as LateNightGaming on YouTube, advised Kotaku. “343 unfortunately has had a rough year following the poor handling of Halo Infinite’s supposed ‘live service.’ The last thing they need is [to] retroactively add microtransactions to games that are over a decade old at this point.”
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Even the commonly positive-leaning voices in Halo’s neighborhood have spoken up. Sacred Icon, a preferred Halo podcast, mentioned that extra microtransactions is “the last thing” Halo wants. UberNick, a Halo content material creator with Spacestation Gaming, mentioned he wasn’t initially irked by the thought of microtransaction however revised his place after studying up on the considerations of others.
“The Master Chief Collection is considered a bit of a ‘safe spot’ for Halo right now, the one area of the series that is doing relatively well, so to see them consider something as tone deaf as microtransaction inclusion is an astonishingly bad PR move,” Taras mentioned.
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Following the discharge of Halo Infinite’s second season, followers criticized how 343 Industries quietly slipped in some controversial adjustments—just like the elimination of non-telegraphed traversal strategies known as “skill jumps”—with out informing gamers first. After some vocal suggestions from neighborhood members, 343 reverted these adjustments.
In the time since, that is, to my understanding, the primary occasion the place 343 has really run a change by the Halo neighborhood to gauge reception earlier than implementing it. But it’s unclear if it was an intentional choice on the a part of 343 as a response to Halo Infinite’s second season debacle or, if that’s the case, why they opted to check the water with the terminally hot-button subject of microtransactions. Everyone hates microtransactions!
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Representatives for 343 Industries didn’t reply to a request for remark.