Let me start by saying that this post comes from a place of love. I have been with Halo since literally day 1, a 12 year old who was mesmerized by the sheer genius flow of this game. It has come a long way since then, and many of us are scared that this is the end of Halo as we know it.
You guys are hemorrhaging players by the day, the roadmap didn’t do much for that. It’s to the point where my friends actually bust my balls for even enjoying halo myself.
After reading a few articles and watching the Steam charts plummet, I asked myself: what would it take to get players back on this game? What would it take to keep them playing if they do come back? In my opinion, what we need are MAPS.
Forge is necessary, I understand that some of the younger and more casual players will get a ton of enjoyment out of the Forge. However, every person I have spoken to about Halo Infinite is playing this game for the sake of competition. I understand that my sample of competitive friends may not accurately represent your entire player base, but Halo is, by nature, a competitive outlet. The only way to hook these competitive players is through more content.
Game modes are a crucial part of this competition as well, but if people heard there were 5 new arena maps being released, they would absolutely hop back on Halo to give it another shot; one jump-start like that could snowball into a massive player-base. Map variety is the single most potent weapon that you have in your re-playability arsenal. In it’s current form, matchmaking gets insultingly bland. Playing Bazaar 4 times in a row would make anyone want to quit this game (that map blows chunks). Even my favorite map, which is probably Aquarius, gets old very quickly when I’m playing it 20% of the time.
Is there something I’m missing here? Does map creation really require that many resources? It seems to me that you could build 50 new maps with the time it is taking to get the Forge going.
Implement old maps, make some new ones, whatever you need to do. The roadmap says otherwise, but while you guys are admiring your “best Halo experience ever,” you’re also managing to lose everyone who has ever enjoyed this series.