14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer 343 Industries and publisher Microsoft are announcing that they are introducing significant changes to the matchmaking for Halo 5: Guardians in order to celebrate the launch of a new season of multiplayer action, targeting the Onyx and the Champion CSR for maximum results.
The two companies admit that some skill values, especially for fans who spend a lot of time with the title, can make it hard to find matches quickly, and that persuades some to create alternate accounts or join parties that feature lower rank gamers.
343 Industries explains on the official site that, "We’ve implemented changes in our algorithm to get players at all skill levels even faster matches. This should improve matchmaking times and increase the number of people eligible to match for players at all skill levels as well as players in international regions."
Both the Onyx and the Champion CSR in Halo 5: Guardians are being tweaked, with the minimum value for the higher rank being set at 1800 rather than the current 1500, with a cap placed for the highest CSR linked to placement matches at 1700.
The idea is to make the categories feel more elite and to accurately represent the skill of those who put in the effort to become very good when it comes to Halo 5.
These changes are live, and they represent just some of the changes that 343 Industries is planning to deliver for the matchmaking system in Halo 5: Guardians, although no clear details about future tweaks are offered.
The studio also wants players to offer their feedback on the most recent changes to make sure that the modifications deliver the intended results.
Halo 5: Guardians is getting another free content update in February
Matchmaking is a very important element for the future of any multiplayer-focused shooter, and it is clear that 343 Industries wants to keep as many gamers engaged with this side of its most recent title for as long as possible.
A February update for Halo 5: Guardians should arrive a little after the halfway mark of the month although no information about its content has been offered so far.
Infinity Armory arrived in January and gamers got access to two new maps, one for Warzone and another for Arena, with the Achilles armor set offering more options on the defensive and the Halo 2 Battle Rifle also offered for long-time fans.
343 Industries has said that it will offer free updates for Halo 5: Guardians for its first year of life and that it is working to expand the REQ card system and to deliver patches to improve overall balance.
Gamers who spend real-world money to get access to new content are also boosting the prize pool for the World Championship finals for the shooter, which is set to take place in March.
343 Industries has made it clear that there are no plans to deliver single-player downloadable content packs for Halo 5: Guardians, with the fate of Master Chief, set to be explored in the next installment of the big Xbox One franchise.