--- description: Technical issues have scuttled a highly anticipated fan event title: Here's Why People Are So Upset About the New Halo image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt521d51aec6fd5232/6987ed343c163913a7455ba7/halo-master-chief-collection.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why the _Halo_ Xbox One Tournament Was Just Canceled by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2015 4:17 PM CUT  Microsoft by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2015 4:17 PM CUT Ground control to Master Chief: you _haven’t_ made the grade, and you’re continuing to leave scads of _Halo_ fans in the lurch. That’s the sentiment the folks at _Halo_ developer 343 Industries must be seeing a lot of the past 48 hours, after having to cancel a _Halo_ tournament this weekend because of connectivity issues. The tournament was part of the Halo Championship Series (HCS), the official eSports moniker for the sci-fi shooter franchise. It’s been active since November last year in partnership with the Electronic Sports League (ESL), a global eSports outfit that boasts some 5 million members worldwide. The _Halo_ mothership tweeted the cancelation (the first cup of the second season of the HCS) Saturday night: > [](https://twitter.com/Halo/status/592140345195962369) So what gives? Here’s everything we know. ## This was supposed to be the HCS’s Season 2 kickoff As [reported by Eurogamer](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-27-343-cancels-its-own-halo-tournament-following-the-master-chief-connection-problems "undefined"), this weekend should have seen the HCS’s inaugural Season 2 cup rolling through two days of matches. While Saturday’s events apparently transpired without hitches, Sunday’s lineup ran into connection issues that ultimately scuppered the tournament’s finale. ## The issues were apparently surfacing already Saturday afternoon An unofficial HCS Twitter account [reported](https://twitter.com/HCSLiveTweets/status/592112896169156609 "undefined") “a lot of protests going on late Saturday afternoon,” attributing it to possible “connection issues.” The official _Halo_ Twitter account cancelation appeared a few hours later. ## It’s because the _Halo: The Master Chief Collection_ is still broken The _Halo: Master Chief Collection_ was supposed to be Microsoft’s _Halo_ magnum opus, an Xbox One-optimized smorgasbord of _Halo_ goodies for completists wanting a fresh look at Microsoft’s iconic series. Instead, it’s turned into more of an embarrassing memento mori. The trouble lies with the compilation’s ballyhooed online features—in particular, fundamentals like matchmaking—which have been glitchy since the game’s launch on November 11, 2014. ## Microsoft and 343 have been releasing patches for the game for months No one knows why the collection’s matchmaking remains broken six months on, but after forcing players to download multiple, occasionally mammoth post-release patches for half a year (including a few recent patches everyone thought had rectified the issues), the game still isn’t tournament ready. ## It’s probably nothing to do with _Halo 5_‘s multiplayer systems, but it’s certainly not helping the brand _Halo 5: Guardians_ lands on October 27 this year, and looks to be the most important Xbox One game Redmond’s going to release (as in _ever_, thinking about it’s importance in relation to console life cycles and install base buildup). If the game fails to bolster Xbox One sales, with Sony’s PlayStation 4 way out ahead of the Xbox One in global sales, it could be catastrophic for the entire Xbox platform. ### Meet America's First Video Game Varsity Athletes  Jonathan "McSleuthBurgur" Lindahl, 19, a freshman in computer networking, practices League of Legends and other video games in the video game practice space of Robert Morris University's athletic department in Chicago, March 18, 2015\. The university recognizes video games as a varsity sport under its athletic department and has been offering sports scholarships to video gamers to play League of Legends. The team practices four to five nights a week in a $100,000 classroom outfitted for video gaming. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Chris "STARS FourEyes" Broadnax, 21, a graphic design major, plays video games in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Rachel "Razur" Zurawski, 20, plays League of Legends and other video games in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Student video game athletes play League of Legends and other games in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Derek "Zig" Shao (left), 20, and Blake "Oberan" Soberanis, 22, play League of Legends in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015\. Shao and Soberanis are two of the best members on the school's video game team. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Chris "STARS FourEyes" Broadnax (right), 21 and Mario "ThirstDrinker" Huang, 26, practice League of Legends and other video games in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Rachel "Razur" Zurawski, 20, practices League of Legends and other video games in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Robert Morris University associate athletic director, Kurt Melcher (second left), Jonathan "McSleuthBurgur" Lindahl (right), 19, and Dean "keyboychespin" Mitchell (second right), 18, watch others play the game Heroes of the Storm in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Derek "Zig" Shao (left), 20, and Zixing Jie (right), 20 play League of Legends in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME  Mario "ThirstDrinker" Huang, 26, a sophomore studying Drafting Technology, practices League of Legends and other video games in Robert Morris University's video game practice space in Chicago, March 18, 2015. Kitra Cahana—Getty Images Reportage for TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3838113/halo-xbox-one-tournament/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3838113/halo-xbox-one-tournament/"},"headline":"Why the Halo Xbox One Tournament Was Just Canceled","datePublished":"2015-04-28T16:17:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:52.830Z","description":"It crashed and burned this weekend","url":"https://time.com/3838113/halo-xbox-one-tournament/","keywords":["Tech","Video Games","xbox One","Microsoft","Halo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt521d51aec6fd5232/6987ed343c163913a7455ba7/halo-master-chief-collection.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Peckham","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-peckham/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt521d51aec6fd5232/6987ed343c163913a7455ba7/halo-master-chief-collection.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"halo-master-chief-collection","caption":"","creditText":"Microsoft","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3838113/halo-xbox-one-tournament/","name":"Why the Halo Xbox One Tournament Was Just Canceled"}}]}] ```