Big Team Battle

"Assorted games for full teams of 8 on 8. Work together, or die in a great big pile."

- In-game description for Halo 3's ranked Big Team Battle playlist

Big Team Battle is a matchmaking playlist intended for games of 8 versus 8. These games are either objective based or kill based. The maximum number of players per game is 16 (minimum is 12) while the maximum number of players who can join Big Team Battle together is 8. The maximum allowable imbalance between teams is 1 player. It is the largest playlist in terms of number of players in each game. As such, it is only played on the largest maps.

Big Team Battle exists in both Halo 2 and Halo 3 matchmaking. In Halo 2, it is an unranked playlist, although it had previously been ranked. Ranked and unranked Big Team Battle playlists exist in Halo 3; the ranked list is known as Ranked Big Team and the unranked list as Big Team Social. Note: In June the Ranked Big Team playlist have no restrictions (mixed party etc.) and will feature Double EXP the entire month. If the playlist does not work perform well this month, the playlist may be retired in July, to make modifications to it.

Halo 2

 * Assault - Headlong, Terminal, Zanzibar
 * Multi Bomb - Containment, Waterworks
 * Multi Bomb BR - Coagulation
 * Neutral Bomb - Containment, Waterworks
 * Neutral Bomb BR - Coagulation
 * One Flag CTF - Headlong, Relic, Terminal, Zanzibar
 * One Flag CTF BR - Burial Mounds
 * Multi Flag CTF - Containment, Waterworks
 * Multi Flag CTF BR - Coagulation
 * Flag Wars - Waterworks
 * 3 Plots - Terminal, Turf
 * Land Grab - Containment, Headlong, Relic
 * Team Duals XTRA - Beaver Creek, Lockout, Midship, Sanctuary
 * Gulch Wars - Coagulation, Containment
 * Team Slayer Rockets - Ascension, Sanctuary
 * Team Slayer - Beaver Creek, Elongation, Foundation, Gemini, Ivory Tower, Lockout, Midship, Turf, Warlock
 * Team Slayer BR - Burial Mounds, Colossus, Headlong, Relic, Terminal, Waterworks, Zanzibar

Halo 3

 * Big Team Slayer - Avalanche, Last Resort, Rat's Nest, Sandtrap, Standoff, Valhalla.
 * Multi Bomb - Avalanche, Rat's Nest, Valhalla.
 * Neutral Bomb - Avalanche, Rat's Nest, Sandtrap, Standoff, Valhalla.
 * One Flag CTF - Avalanche, High Ground (Beta), Rat's Nest, Valhalla.
 * Multi Flag CTF - Avalanche, Rat's Nest, Sandtrap, Valhalla.
 * Territories - Last Resort, Sandtrap, Valhalla.
 * 1 Sided VIP - Last Resort.
 * VIP - Avalanche, Rat's Nest, Sandtrap, Valhalla.
 * 2 Flag Heavy - Avalanche Heavy, Valhalla Heavy, Standoff Heavy

Issues with Ranked Big Team
Ranked Big Team in Halo 3 is much more of a stake and gamble to play, chancing experience and rank entirely. It's a 50/50 shot. You'll either win or lose. It all depends on how good you and your teammates are, as well as your commitment and devotion to the game's objective, and your opponents as well. That's why lots of people opt out of this playlist, choosing something much easier to win, such as Team Slayer, or even Lone Wolves. Another aspect is that the Ranked Big Team playlist need to match 16 different NATs(Network Address Translator) thus the matches are prone to extensive LAG. Another problem has been the difficulty to match players, as the spread of trueskill is high, and because of the "mixed team" restrictions, the matching time was furtherly increased. However, in June all restrictions in Ranked BTB are removed to attract more players to the playlist.