The launch of Halo: Master Chief Collection was a train wreck at launch. The game hardly worked in single player and online multiplayer was completely broken. Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, is very confident that Halo 5 will have a smooth launch.
“I know that of all of our teams, no team at their core feels the need to hit a great launch from a multiplayer and connection issues more than 343,” he explained. “That team took the issues around the launch of Master Chief Collection, it kind of hit them in the heart, because it’s Halo Nation. It’s the people who love these past Halo games.”
Spencer has absolute faith in 343 that they are making Halo 5 a complete and enjoyable experience.
“No team is focused on it more than 343,” he said. “The planning and process teams have gone through has been great, and I’m confident in how it will launch based on the results that we’re seeing.”
Online games will usually have slight bugs at launch but are easily fixed very quickly.
“Frankly, if I look at how Rare came out and Gears came out, and now Forza, I feel good that the teams all up have taken the lessons of last holiday of some teams missing the bar that they wanted to hit,” Spencer said. “You’re always going to have issues here and there, and you kind of manage through it, but by-and-large, those releases have gone well. It’s really nice to see that the teams have taken an increased focus on making sure that launch goes extremely well for our customers.”
Spencer says that Halo has the potential for longevity that Star Wars or Spider-Man has and expects to see Halo still popular 20 years from now in 2035. For more on Halo 5, stay tuned to Gamespresso.