‘Halo: Master Chief Collection’ Too Big For Blu-Ray, ‘Spartan Ops’ Delayed
Microsoft and 343 Industries announced Friday that Halo: The Master Chief Collection for the Xbox One just went gold. Other details for the game were also included such as its massive size and the unfortunate news that the Spartan Ops co-op multiplayer from Halo 4 will not be included at launch.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection has gone gold! Read more about it here: http://t.co/wSO4zle0DJ pic.twitter.com/Z2NJoxPXNB
— Halo (@Halo) October 17, 2014
Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be released worldwide on November 11 and will be available to pre-order from the Xbox Store today. This is an upgrade as some countries previously had to wait until November 14.
“There are still a few countries that will see a slight delay due to public holidays,” 343 Industries Dan Ayoub explained in an Xbox Wire post. “In Europe, Belgium will release on November 12 and France will release on November 14 as part of their typical Friday release schedule. Our fans in Japan will see a release of November 13.”
This will be the biggest Xbox One release yet. The Master Chief Collection is so large that it will not fit on a single 45 GB Blu-ray disk. An additional 20 GB content download will be required to receive the full features of the game.
“Yes, the update is large, but we weren’t about to cut corners to save disc space,” Ayoub explained. “This ensures that you are getting every bit of Halo goodness we can fit in.”
If you pre-order/download MCC, you will also download content update pre-release. Just make sure you enable auto updates on XB1
— Dan Ayoub (@Danayoub) October 17, 2014
Unfortunately, it does not appear that Spartan Ops is quite ready yet. This is the episodic co-op experience from Halo 4 that followed the adventures of the Spartan IVs after the events of the main story.
“One caveat we wanted to share is that Spartan Ops, our episodic co-op experience from Halo 4, will now release in December,” Ayoub announced. “In the meantime, we’re making some technical enhancements to that experience to make sure it’s smoother and even better than before. All ten episodes will be available at the same time, so we’re working to make an event out of it with our Community teams.”
Fortunately, Halo: The Master Chief Collection players won’t lack for other content to partake in while Spartan Ops is being readied. The release includes updated versions of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4. It also packs in additional multiplayer maps from the PC releases of the first two games plus the Halo 5 multiplayer beta due out in December. Aside from the new visual upgrades, new UI, and playlist, it also includes Forge map creator upgrades and support for Forge in Halo 2. Spartan Ops was never considered the strongest part of Halo 4 to begin with so its absence may not be noticed during that first month of release.
Will you be picking up Halo: The Master Chief Collection? What do you think of the additional content download and Spartan Ops delay? Let us know in the comments below.
[Images via Halo Waypoint]
