With launch nearing and the statements made by multiple members of 343, along with what we knew was going to be missing for months, it’s time to call this game what it is: A retail early access title that won’t be feature complete for at least 9 months.
- No new playlists for 1 to 3 months.
- No campaign coop for 6-ish months.
- No Forge for at least 9 months.
- No new maps for several months, at least.
- No in-game social functions like service records.
- No tangible anti-cheat.
- Significant server side sync issues.
- Bugs galore, even in things as simple as scoreboards (which can display inaccurate team information).
By this time next year, the game will probably be in an amazing state but right now it’s an early access title that is living on brand name alone. Early adopters are going to be (rightfully) frustrated waiting for basic things to be added over the course of the next year, and I don’t think they should be discouraged from venting that frustration (so long as it doesn’t turn into death threats and the like).
My biggest issue is I’m tired of 343 doing this – delivering the minimum viable product and patching the rest in over time. They did this with MCC, they did it with Halo 5, and now they’re doing it with Infinite. I guess it’s too much to ask for these days that triple-A studios deliver a complete product on time after years of, and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on, development.