Microsoft Requests Guinea Pigs For Massive 'Master Chief Collection' Matchmaking Patch

To say that Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been rife with bugs that make the game glitchy and at times unplayable would be putting it lightly. The compilation title was released to eager gamers in November 2014, and is still in disarray two months later.

Microsoft and 343 Industries extended an olive branch to gamers in late December, announcing a series of freebies that would be dished out including an additional month of Xbox Live Gold and digital downloads. Today, however, Microsoft announced that it’s looking for gamers to test a massive “update beta” patch that will fix the underlying problems with the title.

“We are expanding testing to include select members of the Xbox One Preview program to ensure the official release is the best possible experience for all players,” said the developer in a blog posting. “This is an opt-in opportunity and the content update will only be made available to selected participants within the Xbox One Preview program, based on the highest levels of engagement with Halo: The Master Chief Collection. On Friday, January 23, participants selected will be prompted to download the content update automatically when the title is started.”

The open call to gamers follows “extensive internal testing” that was conducted by 343 Industries.

The update includes changes to the Halo: The Master Chief Collection matchmaking experience and its party system. At this time, 343 Industries isn’t divulging what else is fixed in the update. In addition, the update will only be available to players in the North America, and they will only be able to use the multiplayer matchmaking with other players that have been invited to join the beta program.