The developers behind Halo 5: Guardians have been taking a social beating lately where online their fans are criticising their reasons for removing split-screen from their new addition in the series.
With such a large feature removed, it’s understandable that the fan base is upset with the circumstances. But as Microsoft states that the addition would eat up too many resources that are better served on more essential development tasks.
Tweeting the Reasons
Since most of the backlash that Microsoft has received from their fans is through Twitter, they’ve been defending themselves by tweeting back to certain fans giving reasons for their decision. Most recently Frank O’Connor, the director behind the development of the Halo franchise, replied to a tweet giving insight to a fan who was using the hashtag, #BringHalo5SplitScreenBack.
@GreenAssassin24 If we could do it, we would do it. But it is what they call “nontrivial.”
— Frank O’Connor (@franklez) August 12, 2015
Over the summer 343 Industries executive Josh Holmes announced that it was a difficult decision to remove the split-screen that embodied all previous Halo games, but that it was a necessary removal so the game would give the users the best experience possible.
“Many of our ambitious goals for Halo 5 would be compromised in a split-screen setting and the time spent optimizing and addressing split-screen-specific issues would take focus from building other parts of the game,”
“Game development is a balancing act of resources, time, and technology, and in this case we made the tough decision to sacrifice something that’s been near and dear to us all.”
– Josh Holmes, 343 Industries
Only time will tell as the debate goes on over the removal of split-screen in multiplayer and campaign modes. Halo 5: Guardians is set for a fall release on October 27th, solely for the Xbox One.
Do you think the removal is just if the overall game quality is improved by the decision?
