343 Industries and Microsoft have been desperately trying to fix Halo: The Master Chief Collection since it launched last year for the Xbox One. The rushed launch of the game came at a heavy price, and 343 and Microsoft are still paying for it to this very day... even in the e-sports arena.
According to Eurogamer, 343 had to cancel cup #1 in the second season of the official Halo Championship Series. As explained with the tweets below.
Originally, the Halo Championship Series was supposed to run over the weekend between April 25th and April 26th. However, after getting through Saturday things took a turn for the worst when Sunday rolled around and connectivity issues started plaguing the tournament, which eventually caused them to have to shut things down.
The continued presence of network problems in Halo: The Master Chief Collection has contributed to the game's poor showing in the media since its debut back in November of 2014.
Unfortunately, 343 Industries has yet to get a complete handle on the networking issues in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The matchmaking put a lot of people off from the title last year and it was such a headache that Microsoft promised that those who bought the game in November would be given Halo 3: ODST DLC for free. It's a nice gesture on Microsoft's part but it certainly doesn't solve the issue with the multiplayer that has now bled over into the game's presence in the e-sports arena.
In fact, the Halo Championship Series is part of the fast-growing ESL and having the game pull out of a weekend tournament due to connectivity and matchmaking issues that have been present since release does not bode well for the game's reputation in the electronic competitive leagues.
On the upside, Halo: The Master Chief Collection's single-player campaign modes have worked quite well since launch and hasn't given gamers too many problems. However, the single-player modes aren't the ones that keep people coming back and spectating during e-sports events.
Some people have joked that Halo: The Master Chief Collection may not be fixed properly until Halo 5 comes out. Hopefully Microsoft and 343 Industries get a handle on the situation before Halo 5 launches this upcoming October. A game still being broke nearly six months after release is actually worse than Ubisoft's broken launch of Assassin's Creed Unity.
I'm sure 343 Industries will likely want to get a handle on the issues before the next big championship rolls around for Halo. Otherwise it could be pretty embarrassing having a game like Halo: The Master Chief Collection stumbling through the e-sports events or being pulled due to a matchmaking bug that's been present since the game first launch back in November of 2014.
