Mr. Josh Holmes,
I am a 15 year Halo veteran - I dont consider myself a pro gamer or the biggest Halo fan in the universe, but I am indeed a big fan. I was also interviewed by you guys for an artist position at the 343 studios before the studio went public about the project or the studio’s existence.
Im writing you because I am concerned of where you and the team are taking the Halo franchise - specifically in the multiplayer direction. I have read your article explaining your decision to completely disregard the implementation split screen multiplayer into Halo 5 in favor of graphics performance due to the size of the worlds etc etc - and I am really not happy about it. The idea of sacrificing a major feature (a feature the franchise was based around) in favor of maintaining performance is not a good one. All Halo games, including H4, had split screen online multiplayer and had no issues whatsoever. Yes - there is might be some slight FPS dip during chaotic moments or some grass missing here or there, and LOD in the distance was lower, but honestly - who cares?? We are all too busy having a great time playing the game. A logical person understands there must be some sort of optimization that has to happen in order to have 4 simultaneous views on one console. The more discerning, serious gamer might notice it - and if they care enough - won’t play split screen. It seems like you don’t care about all the people that utilize split screen multiplayer and are, instead, making sure the game will satisfy the pro-gamer that demands 60FPS. Which by the way you are down-resing from 1080p in certain instances in order to maintain it! I don’t get it. Why not make it 1080p with variable 48-60 frame rate? Heck, take it down to 30FPS for people who want to play split-screen. I could care less for 60FPS and I see it mostly as a luxury, not a necessity, and i’m sure many people feel the same way; people do it everyday playing older Halo games. People were able to be “pro” back then… I understand you guys have serious time constraints and sacrifices must be made, but never in my wildest imagination did I think you guys would just kill off split screen. There is no doubt in my mind that you guys can implement split screen online multiplayer and campaign (NOT JUST LOCAL). Since games files no longer exist on a CD and instead exists in a file system on a HDD, I see no reason not to include this ‘should be standard’ feature to the game, sometime soon after release, in an update. Again, I think people who play 2-4 player split screen multiplayer would expect graphical optimizations to be made and won’t go home crying because they couldn’t see certain details.
I grew up playing Halo with my friends and most importantly, my family. Sure my sister, my dad, and I are in different states now - but multiple times a week we meet online to play Halo Reach or 4. My sister also has a boyfriend that plays with us and they use the same console. It is not reasonable tell someone - “sorry you cant play online multiplayer together anymore” and have to use 2 consoles, 2 xbox live subscriptions, 2 games, and 2 tvs - in the same house, in order to all play together. 95% of my gameplay is with them. I dont usually play unless im playing with them because its more enjoyable. Now with Halo 5 not having this iconic feature, I find myself in a strange place in that this is the first time I haven’t pre-ordered a Halo title. Will I purchase Halo 5? Yea, eventually. But im not excited about it like I was for the past releases… Not including split screen is a ballsy move and sets a dangerous precedent for the future… and unfortunately this has caused me to consider hanging up my Halo cap for good… but maybe that’s what you intended by “moving Halo’s gameplay forward” - for a “new” generation of gamers…
Sincerely,
Ryan