A live service game model works only if there’s enough of a game to draw people in initially, and the developer keeps publishing content on a consistent enough basis and of a certain quality to keep interest high.
When that doesn’t happen, a game can suffer and it seems 343 Industries and Microsoft’s “Halo Infinite” are being impacted. A new report in The Washington Post (via VGC) indicates that the “Halo” fan community has grown restless and some even angry over the lack of new content since the game’s release in late November.
The game launched with ten maps and limited game modes, most notably a lack of the franchise’s iconic Forge mode and a lack of campaign co-op play. It also launched within a few weeks of new entries in the “Call of Duty” and “Battlefield” franchises.
Though receiving far better reviews than the 2021 entries of those franchises, especially for its campaign, the user bases of those titles were potentially split. Thus the game needed plenty of content coming regularly to keep its users engaged with the multiplayer aspect, something which hasn’t been happening.
There have also reportedly been desync issues (connection problems) that have cropped up in which the game is out-of-sync with what’s happening in real-time on the servers – even on good broadband connections.
The game’s originally planned first season was extended to a six-month time span with many now waiting for the second season launch in May to hopefully revitalise interest in what Microsoft hopes will be game with a lifespan of up to a decade.
In the meantime, developers at 343 Industries are aware of the issues with 343’s community director Brian ‘ske7ch343’ Jarrard saying on Reddit:
“There are indeed a lot of challenges and constraints. We’re certainly not happy to be unable to meet player and community expectations, it’s a difficult situation that’s going to take the team time to work through.
Right now the focus is on S2 and we’ll have more to share on that in the coming weeks. Meanwhile a lot of production planning, costing, planning, hiring, etc.. is all happening which doesn’t really lend to detailed regular updates.
We understand the community is simply out of patience and frankly, I think understandably tired of words. We just need some time for the team to get the details sorted and then we can certainly share as much as we can.”
It was hoped co-op would launch with the second season but now that’s been pushed back to later in the season. The much anticipated ‘Forge’ mode is being tested, but isn’t expected to be included until the third season.
Source: VGC
