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Halo: The Master Chief Collection matchmaking is broken, and Microsoft’s fix may not work for you (update)

This is what Halo 2 multiplayer looks like in The Master Chief Collection.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Updated at 12:10 p.m. with a comment from Microsoft.

That big new Halo game (which is really four old Halo games) is not off to a great start.

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Microsoft has confirmed that players are having serious issues with Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s online matchmaking. When you try to get into a multiplayer session, it appears like it cannot find other players to pair you up with. This will prevent you from joining in any public matches. Instead, you’ll just see it endlessly searching for players — although developer 343 Industries confirmed that it has recently updated its servers to better handle the influx of players.

A Microsoft spokesperson provided GamesBeat with the following statement:

“We are aware of issues some players have been experiencing with matchmaking, and we’re working around the clock, alongside the Xbox Live team, to improve the situation. We have deployed an update that has shown some improvement, and we continue to optimize the experience. The update deployed to matchmaking was done on the server side and does not require an extra download to your Xbox One. This is our top priority and will keep everyone updated regularly as we deploy continued improvements.”

Microsoft’s engineers updated the Xbox Live Status site with a message that asks players to restart their search if they are encountering problems. As far as fixes go, this one isn’t giving me much success, so you may need to just wait until Microsoft finishes taking the hammer to its servers.

This isn’t the only game having issues on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in recent weeks. Publisher Activision’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare had download issues that kept players from getting into the futuristic military shooter for the first day or two after its release.

We’ll stay on top of any issues with Halo: The Master Chief Collection and try to update you if we find any fixes that work better than restarting your search.