14 DAY TRIAL // Halo 5: Guardians had a very solid launch a few weeks earlier, but now the development team at 343 Industries has to deal with the first major set of online problems linked to the title, with the online matchmaking and the REQ system down at the moment.
The status update on the official site acknowledges the problem but does not specify a cause or the moment when full functionality might be restored.
Gamers are also unable to access their ranks, commendations and service record in Halo 5: Guardians at the moment.
The problem was initially seen about three hours ago, and the development team says that it is doing everything possible to bring the affected game services back online so that fans can engage in their favorite multiplayer experience.
The fact that 343 Industries is not talking about the cause could be a sign that it has to deal with an unexpected technical problem associated with its infrastructure that might take a while to resolve.
An attack from a group seeking to bring Halo 5: Guardians down is also a possibility, although an unlikely one.
Given the important place that multiplayer plays for the franchise, both the development team and Microsoft need to make sure that such downtime periods for matchmaking and the REQ system are kept at a minimum in the future.
November will bring the first major update for Halo 5: Guardians
343 Industries has said that it is tracking a number of issues that the player community has mentioned and that it is also gathering plenty of data from matches and campaigns to compile a full list of changes that will improve the shooter.
For now, no clear details on the changes have been offered, but the first title update for Halo 5: Guardians will be offered in November.
343 Industries also plans to introduce the Big Team Battle mode and the maps associated with it, which are created by prominent members of the community in collaboration with seasoned developers.
Until then, the studio will continue to make small tweaks every week and is giving gamers a chance to vote on the playlist they want to see activated for the weekend.
In December, Halo 5: Guardians will also get access to the Forge, designed to offer ways for gamers to create and share content.
Before the end of the year, Microsoft and 343 Industries will also start the qualifying process for the teams wishing to take part in the finals of the World Championships built around the Arena multiplayer mode.
Keeping the REQ system online is very important because a portion of the revenue derived from it will be used to increase the prize pool of the competition, with more than half a million dollars (460,000 Euro) added in a week after launch.
Some players have been saying that the newly added cards make the Warzone mode unfair, but 343 Industries says that the feature is working as intended and has no plans to radically change it shortly.