Halo: The Master Chief Collection Getting Yet Another Matchmaking Patch

Halo: The Master Chief Collection developer 343 Industries has detailed its forthcoming patch, which it says will be available "within the next few days".

The main aim of the patch is to introduce even more fixes for matchmaking and multiplayer – which have been badly crippled since launch in November. While 343 has been steadily releasing patches for the game, it says a lot that there are still so many issues after this long.

Microsoft and 343 have apologised to fans, and will be offering players a one month complimentary Xbox Live Gold subscription and the campaign from Halo 3: ODST for free when it's released on Xbox One.

The details of the patch are listed below.

Matchmaking:

Improved matchmaking search success rates.
Made an update to reduce instances of "Awaiting Privileges" matchmaking errors.
Made an update to ensure player counts more reliably match the expected numbers for each playlist.
Fixed an issue where player would sometimes appear to be searching in an incorrect "FIND GAME" screen.
Added countdown sound effect to the voting timer.

General multiplayer:

Made several improvements to party joining through the in-game Roster.
Made an update to ensure that the mute icon is visible while in Matchmaking.
Fixed an issue in Halo 4 where players could equip the same weapon as their primary and secondary weapons.

General campaigns:

Made several improvements to stat tracking for Halo: CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4.
Made changes to Halo 3 and Halo 4 scoring to ensure that players are not penalized for destroying empty vehicles.

General menu:

Lowered the music volume level in multiplayer menus.
Fixed an issue where friend emblems in roster would show up as default when exiting a game session.
Made updates to UI and menus to improve multiplayer status messaging, such as when a player joins your lobby.

Control layouts: