It is well known that this game is consistently only #11 on the Xbox Live Most Played list. The reasons for this? Simple. Halo 5 has server issues outside of the US, as well as the fact that Halo 5 does not cater to casual players. However, I think this game can make a comeback, but 343 would have to spend a little money.
With Halo 5, it is clear that it caters to the competitive community. And it is pretty good at it. I need citation for this, but someone had said HCS was the top stream on Twitch when it broadcasted. ESPN is telecasting Halo 5 at the Aspen X Games. However, Halo 5 lacks a ton of casual content. I do think that is the main reason for the small player base, along with the servers outside of the US. My suggestion to change this is 343 develop old gametypes (Infection, KoTH, etc.) as soon as possible. They are already starting as shown by the Feb update Teaser, and that is good. They should then have teams travel to Europe and Australia to install US-like servers. All of this would cost money, but I think it is important for phase 2.
Phase 2 involves advertising. Preferably a lot of it. Once 343 has done above suggestions, they need to advertise a big, and I mean big update. Possibly the June one as that is the supposed last month of free content. These trailers should convey in some form the new Aus and EU servers, as well as casual gametypes. As long as these trailers get people hyped, and knowing 343 they will, this could effectively re launch the game. Would this work? I have no idea. All I know is that the two reasons I listed in the first paragraph are why I think this game lacks players, and this fixes both issues.
Oh well. I am no business expert. Please do not hate, just maybe give constructive criticism so maybe I can edit this.
I don’t know how they make it “casual” honestly. It’s competitive by nature. No matter what game type or playlist the goal is to kill the enemy. Even if it’s an objective game type you have to kill the enemy to secure the win. Making it unranked only makes matches inconsistent. Now that btb is “casual” I have games where my team dominates, and games where we get shredded.
As far as relaunch and stuff, 343 is making tons of money off this game. I think they view it as a huge success. I wouldn’t expect anything from them except more of the same through June.
You are absolutely right when you say that the game needs to cater to casuals more in order to attract a larger crowd. With infection coming and ball gametypes (grifball included) coming out soon, there will be more content catering to casuals which is huge. Your idea of essentially re-releasing the game with a mega update that promises a lot of content, coupled with the fact that H5 is already selling for 40 bucks on ebay would definitely draw in a decent crowd. Not to mention installing US servers in EU and other places which would attract quite a bit of attention overseas. Overall, I think it’s certainly achievable for 343 to get back into the top 10 most played, but it’s a big question of whether 343 wants to spend the resources necessary to advertise a mega update and install servers overseas. Correct me if Im wrong, but installing servers overseas would be wayyyy too much money, much more than any possible compensation. So Id assume that at least that much is out of the picture, but again, I could be wrong. That being said, even if they cant install servers overseas, perhaps just working on a viable fix would be worth it?
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> I don’t know how they make it “casual” honestly. It’s competitive by nature. No matter what game type or playlist the goal is to kill the enemy. Even if it’s an objective game type you have to kill the enemy to secure the win. Making it unranked only makes matches inconsistent. Now that btb is “casual” I have games where my team dominates, and games where we get shredded.
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> As far as relaunch and stuff, 343 is making tons of money off this game. I think they view it as a huge success. I wouldn’t expect anything from them except more of the same through June.
Btb is casual, infection is casual, custom games and forge are casual. Halo has more potential than any or most console shooter to appeal to the casual masses in my opinion. No other shooter offers the creativity/options for casual players to indulge in. As for H5 being a “huge success,” Im definitely gonna disagree. It may have sold well, but it’s already out of the top 10 most played. 343 needs this game to stay relevant for the next few years to keep the franchise going at a solid rate, and already losing their spot in the top 10 is not a good sign. A chance at redemption would be very ideal for 343.
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> > 2535468812026872;2:
> > I don’t know how they make it “casual” honestly. It’s competitive by nature. No matter what game type or playlist the goal is to kill the enemy. Even if it’s an objective game type you have to kill the enemy to secure the win. Making it unranked only makes matches inconsistent. Now that btb is “casual” I have games where my team dominates, and games where we get shredded.
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> > As far as relaunch and stuff, 343 is making tons of money off this game. I think they view it as a huge success. I wouldn’t expect anything from them except more of the same through June.
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> Btb is casual, infection is casual, custom games and forge are casual. Halo has more potential than any or most console shooter to appeal to the casual masses in my opinion. No other shooter offers the creativity/options for casual players to indulge in. As for H5 being a “huge success,” Im definitely gonna disagree. It may have sold well, but it’s already out of the top 10 most played. 343 needs this game to stay relevant for the next few years to keep the franchise going at a solid rate, and already losing their spot in the top 10 is not a good sign. A chance at redemption would be very ideal for 343.
It was a success for the first week. After that the game basically stopped selling compared to other games. To respond to Vader, you are right about how the goal is always to kill. However, if more casual players come in, the players in each social playlist would be less skilled.