Halo: The Master Chief Collection Content Updates (2018-2019)

Beginning in 2018, Halo: The Master Chief Collection was subject to a number of major content updates, the first of such since the initial wave of patches released in the 2014-2015 launch period for the game and aimed at fixing the game after the buggy original launch period. To see the original wave of updates and patch notes released in 2014-2015, see here.

Following the game's PC release and the addition of Halo: Reach in December 2019, a system of seasons were implemented to contain regular updates and bugfixes. As such, a list of seasons can be found here, and a list of title updates from 2019-onward can be found here.

Background[edit]

These updates were announced as part of the "#FixMCC" project commonly requested by fans following the collection's notoriously buggy launch state, and subsequent silence. The fix was publicly announced in October of 2017 in an Xbox social stream, alongside the announcement of Master Chief Collection support for Xbox One X. The commencement of development of 4K UHD support for the collection was an opportunity for 343 Industries to delve into the game's core systems again and begin instituting a total rework of the game's backend systems and user interface to bring the game up to community standards.

In January 2018, a series of announcements were made about the FixMCC project; a legacy titles team was put together at 343 to oversee management of titles like MCC, and monthly updates began being produced as part of the team's commitment to transparency in communication. Additionally, the MCC Insider Program was launched to help provide regular feedback on the new updates and builds.

Patch notes[edit]

The initial FixMCC overhaul was released on August 27, 2018. While the patch notes are listed below, a comprehensive blog was also released detailing some of the changes made; this blog can be found here.^[1]

August 27 patch notes

This update includes numerous new additions, features, improvements and fixes. Here’s a breakdown of the noteworthy changes included in the 8/27 update:

NEW FEATURES

Visual enhancements – up to 4K UHD w/ HDR on an Xbox One X with compatible TV
Intelligent Delivery – Customize game component and language installation
Offline LAN – Play MCC with minimal latency over a local network

NETWORKING UPDATES

All Matchmade games now run on dedicated servers
Updated network transport layer
Round-to-round Matchmaking
Improved party stability & host migration
Updated Ranked Matchmaking logic
“Join in progress” for Custom Games
Dedicated Server optimizations
LAN enabled

MENU & UI UPDATES

Title Screen / update to background video
Main Menu UI refresh / vertical design
Options refresh / layout update
Networking settings
Audio settings / main menu volume slider
Controller settings
Message of the Day (MOTD) update
HDR / SDR settings

GLOBAL UPDATES

Load time & texture streaming optimizations
Campaign playlist / save bug fixes

BUG FIXES

CAMPAIGN

Fixed crashes when playing various Remix Playlists in Xbox Live co-op
Fixed issues with earning Achievements for completing levels in Playlists in Halo: CE & Halo 2
Fixed incorrect Mission being displayed as Next Mission in cross-game playlists
Competitive Score & Time now correctly reset when Restarting during Playlists
Split screen Co-op Framerate improvements throughout Halo 1 & 2
Fixed Kills appropriately populating on leaderboards in Campaign missions
Fixed time penalty issues when saving and quitting various missions
Fixed issues resuming missions from a suspended state
Fixed global stats not incrementing properly when completing missions in both singlepayer and co-op
Fixed improper scoring calculations and persistence in stat-history
Fixed multiple co-op related crashes across all Campaigns
Fixed issues displaying duplicate PGCRs when completing a Playlist with Scoring/Timing on

MULTIPLAYER

Matched lobbies can now continue playing together after their match ends
Players now begin another search instead of being returned to the Main Menu after games
Parties are now maintained after changing the Game Session Leader
Matchmaking Games no longer continue if entire team quits before a match starts
Fixed players being assigned to the wrong teams from roster changes before match starts.
Fixed win/loss conditions when an entire team quits in both Halo 3 & Halo 4
Improved Betrayal Booting messaging
Fixed multiple maps and conditions that caused performance issues for frames rendered
Fixed issues with players being unable to join each other
Fixed multiple soft locks when joining players in various states
Fixed host migration in lobbies and peer-to-peer games
Fixed crashes and instances where a soft lock can occur when accepting invites
Fixed host being placed in solo game after leaving session
Fixed Oddball issues after host quits game
Fixed scoring disparity issues when host migration occurs
Fixed games not ending appropriately if there is no opposing team on launch of match
Fixed PGCR so it now reports correctly for all gametypes
Fixed multiple medals not appearing in PGCR appropriately
Optimized Voice chat networking to have reduced requirements
Fixed various instances where Achievements wouldn’t appropriately unlock
Fixed crashes when game is suspended during various MP game scenarios
Fixed issues where guests and silver accounts were incorrectly named
Fixed soft lock when removing players from parties
Fixed silver accounts being able to/unable to matchmake with/without a gold profile signed in
Fixed issues where players were kicked out of matchmaking while others in roster continued
Fixed issues related to ranks altering after closing the title just after ranking up

CUSTOM GAMES, FORGE, AND FILMS

Fixed issue where Xbox One X players would be removed from lobby at end of custom game
Revert gametype settings now functions more reliably across all games
Fixed several Custom Game stats to now correctly update for sessions where player was a client
Enabled Host Migration in Forge for all games
Fixed error where Temporary Gametype Files did not always list original author
All: Added Settings to Pause Menu in Films for all supported games
All: Fixed Dynamic Lighting not rendering in Films of Forge Maps
H3: Fixed issue with Forge objects missing when first loading into a Forge Session
H3: Adjusted object list window to better reflect Halo 3 assets
H3: Adjusted Damage Modifier text to match 360 descriptions
H4: Fixed Bumpers & Triggers not swapping correctly
Physics have been corrected for multiple Forge related items

GLOBAL

Correct Player Emblem now displays on Scoreboards in-game
Improved Roster refresh & response time
Improved Host Migration support throughout supported games
Fixed issues with 0’s appearing for Time & Score in Leaderboards
Fixed various medals earned not displaying in the PGCR
Fixed issue where Guest Player’s 4 controller settings were not respected
Fixed various crashes when returning to gameplay after the Xbox is suspended
Voice Chat & Team Chat improvements & fixes
Improved Leaderboard response time
Reorganized Controller Settings Order to place most commonly changed at the top
Fixed Error Message telling players they do not have Xbox LIVE Gold during Xbox LIVE service outage conditions
Fixed error when a Gold Profile player with a Guest profile on the same console attempts to Join other players from an Invite.
Parties now merge more gracefully when another Party’s host accepts an Invite
Fixed multiple issues associated with resuming game from suspended state
Fixed many different situations that would result in crashes
Fixed players getting disconnected from squads in many different situations
Fixed various issues caused with multiple controllers connected during

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