Since it was released in 2014, Halo: The Master Chief Collection received a variety of updates and tweaks, including maps and modes that in some cases were never in the original games. But one thing that wasn’t added were in-game microtransactions. That could change soon, however, as Halo developers 343 Industries continue to discuss the option of letting players buy in-game currency to unlock new cosmetic items.
When it was first released nearly eight years ago, The Master Chief Collection was a giant mess. It took years for 343 to patch and improve the game before it became something worth playing. Since then, it’s become one of the best packages in gaming and is a true treasure trove for Halo fans as it features a shit ton of content, new and old. Players can replay all the classic Halo games, from 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved to 343’s first original entry in the series, 2012’s Halo 4, with online and offline modes fully functional. And through all of this, the game never had microtransactions. All of the newly added skins and cosmetics could only be unlocked by playing, leveling up, and completing challenges. But it seems that era of the MCC might be coming to an end.
In a new blog post from last week, 343 discussed the continuing debate over proposed microtransactions to be added the game. The idea is that because there is so much cosmetic content in MCC, new or returning players may not want to spend a bunch of time grinding to access it all. So instead, 343 would let these players buy “Spartan Points,” which replace the old Season Points. Spartan Points (SP) could be used to buy whatever cool armor or skins players might want, skipping the grind to unlock cosmetics for multiplayer avatars usable in the multiple games MCC has on offer.
In MCC, you can currently unlock cosmetic items such as skins for the various games included in the collection. And while you can’t mix or match cosmetics, like using a Halo Reach helmet in Halo 2 for example, you can earn SP in any game and all SP is universal and works across all cosmetics and seasons. This system isn’t changing, it’s just that 343 might let players buy SP to skip the grind in the future.
This isn’t the first time the company has brought up this topic. Back in June, in a different blog post, it first floated the idea of adding purchasable SP to the game. As you can likely guess, it didn’t go over well with most Halo players. In this latest update, 343 acknowledges the angry reaction this received from players.
“As expected, a lively conversation ensued across the community as well as within the MCC team,” said 343. “In addition to some frustrations at the prospects of purchasing SP, much of the feedback focused on general frustrations with the current SP earn rates in MCC (particularly once players have hit level 100).”
If you were hoping for a definitive answer one way or the other about this, you’ll have to keep waiting. 343 goes on to say that “no decision has been made” about letting players buy SP, though the studio did lay out plans for increasing the amount of SP players earn from leveling up. This has been a point of frustration among many players and one that is likely contributing to some of the negative feedback over the decision to insert microtransactions in MCC.
For now, 343 says it will continue to listen to player feedback and internal debates about the topic. If I had to guess though, at this point, the fact it still won’t say no, means microtransactions are coming, it’s just when and in what flavor.