Halo Insider Program: Difference between revisions

{{Status|RealWorld}}

The '''Halo Insider Program''' is a testing program implemented by [[343 Industries]] for updating and testing future builds of ''[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]]'' and ''Halo Infinite''. The program was implemented following the bug-filled launch of the original ''Master Chief Collection'' game. With the launch of the [[Xbox One X]], 343 Industries announced that the MCC, which had gone without major title updates for several years, was going to be updated with 4k UHD enhancements for the new console. The game had been previously left "as-is" for fear of further impacting the game's code and making bugs and glitches more prevalent - with the Xbox One X enhancement update, the studio saw an opportunity to once again revitalize the game and completely rework the game's structure for a better end-user experience. In October 2017, the MCC Update was officially announced, with 343 putting together a dedicated internal team to oversee the handling of "legacy" ''Halo'' titles, with the MCC their top priority.<ref name="Insider1">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/mcc-development-update '''Halo Waypoint''' - MCC Development Update'']</ref> Two flights for ''Halo Infinite''s multiplayer ran in the fall and summer of 2021. Another flight was launched to test Co-Op campaign and Mission Replay.

==Updates==

To accommodate the studio's new direction of more transparency and honesty, a series of development updates were released between January and August 2018, detailing the team's progress in patching MCC. The MCC Insider Program was also launched for any players who were part of the Halo Community Feedback Program, with invitations to the MCC's test builds (known as "flights") given out in waves.<ref name="Insider3">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/mcc-development-update-3 '''Halo Waypoint''' ''- MCC Development Update #3'']</ref> Players were encouraged to play snippets of the game in-development, with a support forum opened on [[Halo Waypoint]] forums for feedback, suggestions and discussion with 343 later posting their list of the most requested features to add including the inclusion of ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' and ''Halo 3: ODST''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Firefight mode, a [[Custom game]] browser like that featured in ''Halo 5: Guardians'', expanded Spartan armor customisation and the inclusion of ''Halo 4'' [[Champions Bundle]] content that was missing from the MCC such as the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V|Mark V]], [[ODST armor|ODST]], [[PREFECT-class Mjolnir|Prefect]] and [[RICOCHET-class Mjolnir|Ricochet]] armors, among other features.<ref name="Insider2">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/mcc-development-update-2 '''Halo Waypoint''' ''- MCC Development Update #2'']</ref> While 343 confirmed that not all of these features would necessarily be doable or possible to include, they would consider everything - later, it was confirmed that a future update for MCC would incorporate a custom game browser, though this would be after the initial XB1X patch. 343 also began looking into the possibility of porting legacy ''[[Halo Custom Edition]]'' and ''Halo 3'' and ''Halo 4'' Forge maps over to MCC, though also warned that the steps needed to make total file parity possible are arduous and may not ever be fully implemented for general player use.{{Ref/Reuse|Insider3}}{{Ref/Reuse|MCCOctober}}