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Halo: The Master Chief Collection has had more than ten million players on PC

geary

Member
https://www.pcgamesn.com/halo-the-master-chief-collection/pc-player-count

Originally released on the Xbox One, Halo: The Master Chief Collection hit our home platform back in late 2019 on Steam, the Windows Store, and the Xbox Game Pass for PC. And, since that time, it’s turns out it’s been really quite popular – Xbox Game Studios has revealed that Halo MCC has seen more than ten million players on PC.

We spoke to World’s Edge studio head Shannon Loftis about the studio’s plans for PC gaming in 2021 and beyond, who confirmed the eye-watering figure. “We have been kind of methodically and systematically expanding our game development capability for PC, both with our existing and established franchises, and also by adding brilliant studios that focus on PC forward gaming” Loftis tells us.

Touching on Microsoft’s acquisitions of big PC gaming studios like InXile, Obsidian, World’s Edge, and Bethesda, Loftis tells us, “then expanding, for instance, we released Halo Master Chief Collection on Steam in 2019 […] and we have over ten million people who have played the game since we’ve released it on Steam and Windows”.


Loftis also says that a huge proportion of these players had never played a Halo game. “Most of those people are new to the franchise. And so, we discovered a whole new cache of Halo fans that we wouldn’t otherwise have gotten to reach if we hadn’t released on Steam, and on Windows, and on Game Pass.”
 
It has fewer concurrents on Steam than Sea of Thieves which was also a highly promoted MS Store title (#50 and #56 on Steamcharts, respectively). I'm not celebrating that fact. Actually, quite the opposite. I love what they've done with the game and still play regularly. But I think this article is just a TAD misleading.
 

Kilau

Gold Member
So is it finally all fixed? I forgot I bought it and haven't been keeping up on the status.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
I have a question about multiplayer... is first Halo multiplayer alive on this collection? Cause that would be BIG for me and my friends
 
So is it finally all fixed? I forgot I bought it and haven't been keeping up on the status.
It is all fixed. They've added seasons that are full of new armors, skins, other customization options. A few new maps are going to be added and a custom game browser is in the process of being put in. Just a few days ago they had a public test of it. Also NO microtransactions.

I have a question about multiplayer... is first Halo multiplayer alive on this collection? Cause that would be BIG for me and my friends
Yep. There is also crossplay between Xbox and PC so it's easier to find games.
 
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Godot25

Banned
It has fewer concurrents on Steam than Sea of Thieves which was also a highly promoted MS Store title (#50 and #56 on Steamcharts, respectively). I'm not celebrating that fact. Actually, quite the opposite. I love what they've done with the game and still play regularly. But I think this article is just a TAD misleading.
Yeah. But peak players is more than twice as much for Halo MCC then it is for Sea of Thieves (161k vs. 66k)
 

b6a6es

Banned
It’s worth noting they only mentioned *Players* and Not Sales nor Active Players, i assume most of them from Gamepass
 

Chukhopops

Member
It has fewer concurrents on Steam than Sea of Thieves which was also a highly promoted MS Store title (#50 and #56 on Steamcharts, respectively). I'm not celebrating that fact. Actually, quite the opposite. I love what they've done with the game and still play regularly. But I think this article is just a TAD misleading.
But Sea of Thieves is huge, not sure what your point is supposed to be? Even on Steamspy it’s in the 2M-5M sales range and it’s safe to assume that’s not the entirety of the sales.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Not completely but it has been on some steep sales recently. $20 for the entire collection is a hell of a bargain

Do you know if the Halo 1 SP fixed? Last I heard it had AI and graphical glitch problems in the original graphics mode and I've no desire to play it in the new graphics mode to fix half of those problems.

It is all fixed. They've added seasons that are full of new armors, skins, other customization options. A few new maps are going to be added and a custom game browser is in the process of being put in. Just a few days ago they had a public test of it. Also NO microtransactions.

Do you mean the Halo 1 SP bugs are fixed or are you just talking about MP?
 
Do you know if the Halo 1 SP fixed? Last I heard it had AI and graphical glitch problems in the original graphics mode and I've no desire to play it in the new graphics mode to fix half of those problems.



Do you mean the Halo 1 SP bugs are fixed or are you just talking about MP?
What bugs are you talking about specifically? I've played through all of the campaign on more than one occasion and haven't had any issues. The game is based off of the PC version, so it's never going to be exactly like the original. But it is still a lot of fun to play.

I was under the impression that the biggest remaining issue with TMCC were with players over seas getting matched up on far away laggy servers.
 

Kuranghi

Member
What bugs are you talking about specifically? I've played through all of the campaign on more than one occasion and haven't had any issues. The game is based off of the PC version, so it's never going to be exactly like the original. But it is still a lot of fun to play.

I was under the impression that the biggest remaining issue with TMCC were with players over seas getting matched up on far away laggy servers.

AI Bugs in Halo 1 where Elites don't react to shots from a certain gun and one of the graphical effects issues was that the forerunner room "energy" effect didnt render correctly or at all. I think the graphical bugs were mostly present in the original graphics mode.

I tried to find a page where they track bugs but I can't seem to find one, appreciate you replying.
 

Stuart360

Member
lol i rememebr quite a few trolls on here saying Halo was dead, PC users dont care about Halo, the MCC collection needs to be $10 on Steam or it wont sell, etc.

Good times.
 

Holammer

Member
Halo Collection does not reach any amazing concurrent numbers on Steam (10k'ish peaks). However, I reckon a lot of players like myself that haven't played the series since OG Xbox or at all, view them mainly as single player campaigns.
The real test for Halo on PC starts with Infinite. If it manages to gain a stable 150-300k concurrent player base six months after release, I'll consider it a massive success.
 

Stuart360

Member
Halo Collection does not reach any amazing concurrent numbers on Steam (10k'ish peaks). However, I reckon a lot of players like myself that haven't played the series since OG Xbox or at all, view them mainly as single player campaigns.
The real test for Halo on PC starts with Infinite. If it manages to gain a stable 150-300k concurrent player base six months after release, I'll consider it a massive success.

Are you new to Steam or something?, you dont get numbers like that 6 months after launch. PUBG, which has sold 25mil copies on Steam, and was the biggest game on the panet for months, struggled to get daily numbers like that after 6 months.
Huge AAA games on Steam usually get in the 50-150k numbers at launch, but not 6 months after release. Destiny 2 was uge when it released on Steam (and was free), and its launch numbers were like 180k.
PC isnt like console where there are a handful of games making up most of the userbase. On PC there are literally hundreds of games that have multiple thousand players at any one time.
 
AI Bugs in Halo 1 where Elites don't react to shots from a certain gun and one of the graphical effects issues was that the forerunner room "energy" effect didnt render correctly or at all. I think the graphical bugs were mostly present in the original graphics mode.

I tried to find a page where they track bugs but I can't seem to find one, appreciate you replying.
Okay yeah I wasn't aware of that. I probably miss a lot of those things while playing, but overall I think it's still a fun playthrough. I tried to do the anniversary mode and I just don't like the look at all. I'm original mode all the way.
 

Kuranghi

Member
Okay yeah I wasn't aware of that. I probably miss a lot of those things while playing, but overall I think it's still a fun playthrough. I tried to do the anniversary mode and I just don't like the look at all. I'm original mode all the way.

Yeah I'm a bit of stickler for accuracy, when I heard about those bugs I just thought "oh I'll just play in the Anniversary mode to fix them, Halo 2: A looked excellent so I'm sure this will be fine even if its not the og graphics I remember":

*sees Halo CE: Anniversary graphics*

Scared Jurassic Park GIF



I'll investigate further, I just asked because several times in the past I've been about to buy it on sale to do a SP runthrough of Halo 1-3, then Reach (Which I havent ever played so pretty excited for that) and I see a recent review pointing out some problem with SP and I decide to wait longer.
 
Do you know if the Halo 1 SP fixed? Last I heard it had AI and graphical glitch problems in the original graphics mode and I've no desire to play it in the new graphics mode to fix half of those problems.



Do you mean the Halo 1 SP bugs are fixed or are you just talking about MP?
The broken bump mapping is still a thing so things look more flat than they should.

In the last update, they restored the audio so it sounds great again.


I noticed they fixed the missing water textures and fog in some places but it’s still broken in others. There are other small graphical issues too like the plasma shields not changing color when fired, Keyes’ character model being from a beta build and not the final version, etc.

They also fixed cutscene animations being locked to 30fps

All the main issues in the SP are a direct result of the shitty Gearbox PC port though so I don’t really fault 343 for a lot of this stuff.
 

Kuranghi

Member
The broken bump mapping is still a thing so things look more flat than they should.

In the last update, they restored the audio so it sounds great again.


I noticed they fixed the missing water textures and fog in some places but it’s still broken in others. There are other small graphical issues too like the plasma shields not changing color when fired, Keyes’ character model being from a beta build and not the final version, etc.

They also fixed cutscene animations being locked to 30fps

All the main issues in the SP are a direct result of the shitty Gearbox PC port though so I don’t really fault 343 for a lot of this stuff.


Thank you so much pal, thats exactly the stuff I was talking about. Its such a shame but as you say its not really their fault. The audio update is fantastic /essential but I can't abide the bumpmapping issue, thats integral to the look of the game for me, its looks awful compared to the og release.

I think I know what the (insane) answer to all my problems is, to buy an X1X or XSS and BC the original discs... anyone know which would be a better experience overall? With the proviso that I don't care about Auto-HDR.
 
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Holammer

Member
Are you new to Steam or something?, you dont get numbers like that 6 months after launch. PUBG, which has sold 25mil copies on Steam, and was the biggest game on the panet for months, struggled to get daily numbers like that after 6 months.
Huge AAA games on Steam usually get in the 50-150k numbers at launch, but not 6 months after release. Destiny 2 was uge when it released on Steam (and was free), and its launch numbers were like 180k.
PC isnt like console where there are a handful of games making up most of the userbase. On PC there are literally hundreds of games that have multiple thousand players at any one time.
Don't forget, the MP component is free for Infinite, that will help it reach a wider audience. My estimate and metric for success is based on Apex Legend's performance on Steam. It launched in November last year and gained a stable & still growing player population (200k+) in six months.
 

Graciaus

Member
Don't forget, the MP component is free for Infinite, that will help it reach a wider audience. My estimate and metric for success is based on Apex Legend's performance on Steam. It launched in November last year and gained a stable & still growing player population (200k+) in six months.
Odd to compare it to a new and popular game. You think Apex will have those numbers in 15 years?
 

Uiki

Member
Are you new to Steam or something?, you dont get numbers like that 6 months after launch. PUBG, which has sold 25mil copies on Steam, and was the biggest game on the panet for months, struggled to get daily numbers like that after 6 months.
Huge AAA games on Steam usually get in the 50-150k numbers at launch, but not 6 months after release. Destiny 2 was uge when it released on Steam (and was free), and its launch numbers were like 180k.
PC isnt like console where there are a handful of games making up most of the userbase. On PC there are literally hundreds of games that have multiple thousand players at any one time.

... but you can't really compare anything with pubg. It's the outlier of the bunch.
 
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Holammer

Member
Odd to compare it to a new and popular game. You think Apex will have those numbers in 15 years?
Halo Infinite isn't even out yet. That's what I expect it to compete against as Apex sets the bar for Infinite.
 
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theHFIC

Member
This is my first time playing through the Halo series with the MCC. As a lifelong Mac user and someone in the audience at the MacWorld where it was first demoed, I vowed never to own an Xbox after they stole our exclusive :messenger_tears_of_joy:.

But time heals all wounds so I picked it up on sale for PC and have been going through it. I am about to start Halo 2 once I finish Doom Eternal. Halo Reach had some weird audio problems where I could barely hear the dialog and a lot of weapon SFX over the soundtrack and environment SFX. Halo 1 looked and played great. They have all been solid shooters control wise and visually. I don't know if it it is because of how far storytelling games has come, but the story in Halo universe so far falls flat for me.

I haven't touched any of the multiplayer yet but maybe for Halo 2 I will jump into some sessions.
 

chaseroni

Member
I think I know what the (insane) answer to all my problems is, to buy an X1X or XSS and BC the original discs... anyone know which would be a better experience overall? With the proviso that I don't care about Auto-HDR.
I might be wrong but last I checked Halo 1 and 2 are not on BC
 
I keep hearing about 343 killing Halo but I have yet to see the crater. Halo MCC with its bad launch was still a top seller, Halo 5 sold 5 million in 3 months, a bunch of those bad spin-off games did well on mobile which also got console ports, people liked Halo Wars 2, and Halo is still relevant in competitive circles.

Sure, there's no denying that 343 did some damage to the growth of the brand, but it never was hurt to the extent people exaggerated. I can only see 343 causing real harm to the Halo brand if they badly mess up Halo Infinite.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Wow that's a lot of seeders 😳
 
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squarealex

Member
I know the game is too on MS Store... but common..

10 millions players PC and only 10k playing theese ?

6zvyJEg.png


Even Forza Horizon 4 have more succes
 
I keep hearing about 343 killing Halo but I have yet to see the crater. Halo MCC with its bad launch was still a top seller, Halo 5 sold 5 million in 3 months, a bunch of those bad spin-off games did well on mobile which also got console ports, people liked Halo Wars 2, and Halo is still relevant in competitive circles.

Sure, there's no denying that 343 did some damage to the growth of the brand, but it never was hurt to the extent people exaggerated. I can only see 343 causing real harm to the Halo brand if they badly mess up Halo Infinite.
I disagree about 343 fucking up the franchise. As a passionate halo player who was active on bungie.net back in the day i can safely say it's the fanbase that hates change and failed to adapt to the Times. Halo 2 and 3 had a comprable amount of complaints, it was always " BR starts ruin the game", " smg starts ruin the game" so on and so forth.

Somewhere along the way the quest to pwn noobs superseded having fun and we are where we are because of it. Just enjoy the ride, infinite looks great to me and I cant wait to cross map 360 no-scope noobs once it drops.
halo GIF
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I've been playing this with an old friend lately on Xbox. We did the campaigns co-op like the good ol days and we've been playing 1 on 1 vs mode.

It's still a lot of fun. We had so many good times playing. Halo CE campaign is my favorite, but Halo 2 multiplayer is my favorite. Love the maps. Lockout and Headlong all day.
 

Flintty

Member
Halo MCC is the second best value in gaming.

It was awesome to replay it all through with my son when he was old enough and he loved it. That was on Xbox One but I’m due another play through on PC tbh.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
I thought Halo was dead?

I been playing the MCC since its 2014 release nonstop - shit buggy years and all. And I still cant get enough - hell imma bout to hop on a Halo 3 slayer session now.
Its come a long way.
 
Thank you so much pal, thats exactly the stuff I was talking about. Its such a shame but as you say its not really their fault. The audio update is fantastic /essential but I can't abide the bumpmapping issue, thats integral to the look of the game for me, its looks awful compared to the og release.

I think I know what the (insane) answer to all my problems is, to buy an X1X or XSS and BC the original discs... anyone know which would be a better experience overall? With the proviso that I don't care about Auto-HDR.
From this weeks blog update on MCC... :pie_astonished:

iEuYHsE.png
 
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