"Halo" series developer 343 Industries updated gamers through a new blog post that the launch of a multiplayer patch designed to fix the remaining issues with "Halo: The Master Chief Collection" has been delayed.
The company explained through the Halo Waypoint that the development team needs more time to work on the patch and conduct extensive testing procedures before unveiling it to the public.
According to 343 Industries, the upcoming patch covers three main areas of the game's multiplayer mode. These are the lobby / party functionality, matchmaking ranking and search time and match searches.
"As this update contains the biggest changes to the matchmaking system yet, we've identified that additional time and testing is required, and we are currently evaluating both time and need for a [content update] beta with the Xbox One Preview program, as well as the final public release date in February," the company wrote.
"Halo: The Master Chief Collection", which includes all "Halo" titles featuring the titular character, was exclusively released in November of last year for Microsoft's Xbox One console.
Since its launch, players have been complaining about numerous technical issues affecting the overall game play experience.
One of the problems encountered by players is related to the game's matchmaking system. Some reported that the game takes hours to include players in matches while others said the system unequally divides the number of members on various teams, IGN reported.
Aside from "Halo: The Master Chief Collection", 343 Industries also provided a brief update regarding the upcoming "Halo 5: Guardians".
The developer wrote that the game's executive producer, Josh Holmes, is currently working on creating a blog where all details of "Halo 5" will be announced. 343 Industries noted that this blog will feature the development team's progress on "Guardians" and results of the game's beta testing.
There is no official release date yet for "Halo 5: Guardians" but the developer is hoping to release the game within this year.
