Halo: The Master Chief Collection to have 20GB day one content update

In order to access everything Halo: The Master Chief Collection has to offer players will need to download a 20GB day one content update, 343 Industries studio head Dan Ayoub has revealed.

There’s simply too much content to fit onto a single Blu-ray disc, says Ayoub.

“From the start, our philosophy has been to give Halo fans the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the collection,” writes Ayoub. “The result is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single Blu-ray (45 GB), and we will also issue a content update at launch that is estimated to be 20 GB. You’ll be able to start playing Campaign and more as the content is installing, with some features and multiplayer content being added via the update.

“Yes, the update is large, but we weren’t about to cut corners to save disc space. This ensures that you are getting every bit of Halo goodness we can fit in.”

The game has also now gone gold, but Ayoub says the team at 343 will continue to “tune, tweak and optimize the online experience to ensure a smooth multiplayer launch. This will continue right up until launch day.”

Update: Ayoub has added that “if you pre-order/download MCC, you will also download content update pre-release. Just make sure you enable auto updates on XB1.”

Ayoub also announced that the game will now launch globally in the majority of territories on November 11, rather than being a few days later in Europe. A few countries will have to wait: Belgium gets the game November 12, France November 14 and Japan November 13.

The game will be available to Pre-Order and Pre-Download later today.

Halo 4’s Spartan Ops episodes will, however, miss the launch date and will now arrive in one go at some point in December.

“In the meantime, we’re making some technical enhancements to that experience to make sure it’s smoother and even better than before,” explains Ayoub.

Source: Halo Waypoint