Master Chief Collection "a black eye for us," says Halo franchise director

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has turned into a black eye for all those involved with the FPS series, according to Halo franchise director Frank O’Connor.

In an interview with Xbox Achievements, O’Connor explained the difficulty of developing a product with the complexity of Master Chief Collection.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is definitely a black eye for us,” O’Connor said.

We’re not going to rest on our laurels or hide from the mistakes we made. However, I will say that the nature of The Master Chief Collection – you’ve got five different game engines, you’ve got five different studios working on it, you’ve got 343 working on putting it all together – the footprint and complexity was outrageous.”

O’Connor assured that Halo 5 is being developed under completely separate circumstances, and that many of the the problems faced with Halo: MCC simply won’t be an issue for the latest in the Halo franchise.

Halo 5 is being made by a completely different team. It’s a singular product. It was built from the ground up for this new technology, rather than being sort of dragged kicking and screaming from 2001 and forced and shoehorned into a 2014 console. So the problem spaces are still very challenging but they’re radically different. I think the beta is already a decent first step, in a retail environment, showing that we don’t have the same problems.”