Halo players beg 343 to avoid microtransactions amid Master Chief Collection update

343 Industries has announced more updates and support will be coming to the Halo Master Chief Collection later this year. While this continued support has fans happy, the tease of microtransactions has already caused online backlash.

First launched in 2014, The Master Chief Collection has grown to now include six main Halo games in one. It has become a hub for Halo players and has grown over the years to become one of the biggest game collections of late.

The development of this collection won over much fan support for developers 343, who were initially met with apprehension by players after they took over the franchise from its creators Bungie.

However, it appears this good will may now be compromised, with a recent blog update indicating that after 8 years the Master Chief collection might be getting microtransactions.

Will MCC have microtransactions?

While it hasn’t been confirmed yet, 343’s blog post heavily alluded to this possibility, with a new and updated point system the reason for the potential introduction of microtransactions. 

It was revealed that they will be rebranding their ‘Season Points’ and instead, changing the name to ‘Spartan Points’. This change is due to the game no longer having seasons and instead now just having general challenges as a way to allow players to level up and unlock new items.

• Read more: Halo Infinite devs address backlash over surprise store bundle price gouge

When discussing this change though, they hinted that purchasable points may be made available as a way to help new players speed up the process of unlocking the 1000 plus items in the game.

“For players who are new to the MCC, or who may not have dedicated much time specifically to unlocking items during the seasonal updates, or are simply completionists looking to catch the last outstanding items they need, we are internally exploring a potential new feature for the future in the form of purchasable Spartan Points.”

Fan’s were initially excited to hear the MCC will still be getting support but this joy quickly disappeared when realising that microtransactions might be on the way.

One Reddit user even called out 343 for going back on their previous promise that the game would never feature microtransactions.

 

Others are disappointed that after finally fixing the MCC from its shaky launch, they’re now taking major steps back. Reddit user GaLaXY_N7 labeled this move as “another classic example of 3 steps forward, 43 steps back.”

Elsewhere on Twitter, fan outrage is just as prevalent. Many are requesting 343 to avoid microtransactions and instead simply increase the amount of points given out for completing challenges as a way to speed up progress.

 

Fans are also voicing their disdain at the overuse of the word ‘Spartan’ that has been emerging in recent Halo content. While of course Spartan’s are an important part of the Halo franchise, fans on Twitter feel as though the concept is beginning to be ‘oversaturated and overstuffed in Halo branding.’

 

What else will the update include and when will it drop?

With the release of Halo Infinite last year, the regular updates that the Master Chief Collection was previously receiving has slowed down significantly.

• Read more: Halo Infinite June 14 update patch notes

As well as the change in points system, this new update will see some improvements made to the overall gameplay experience and online servers. Mainly, this element to the update would minimize matchmaking issues and load times so that players aren’t getting forced out of the collection when 343 puts out a new playlist. 

In terms of the actual release for this update, nothing was specifically revealed or confirmed. However, they did state that they are “targeting this update for later this summer”.