343 Industries and Microsoft confirm that the patch for Halo: The Master Chief Collection that was set to debut tomorrow, November 19, has been pushed back until later in the week due to the need for additional testing.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been eagerly awaited by millions of franchise fans from around the world, dropping at the beginning of the month for the Xbox One and meeting sales acclaim. The package included remastered versions of Halo 1, 2, 3, and 4, complete with fully functional single-player and multiplayer campaigns.

Unfortunately for Halo fans, the matchmaking system and its servers were unable to cope with the huge load, and the game is still exhibiting quite a lot of problems when it comes to playing online with or against others.

The next patch has been pushed back

Developer 343 Industries has already rolled out quite a few updates, and a new one was confirmed over the weekend to appear tomorrow, November 19. Unfortunately for the array of Halo players, that plan is no longer valid, as 343 Industries reveals on the official forums that the patch has been delayed.

According to the studio, the team needs a bit more time to squeeze in additional fixes as well as to ensure that the testing and certification processes have enough time to complete.

"This week’s content update, which was originally scheduled for release this Wednesday, 11/19, will now be releasing later this week to allow for additional fixes, as well as the completion of the testing and certification process," 343 explains.

More details are also available

The developer also took the chance to share more details about the actual update, which is set to not only improve the matchmaking system but also fix some of the issues concerning the game's stability, its user interface, as well as some that were specific to the original Halo, as well as Halo 2's regular and Anniversary editions.

"This content update includes a variety of fixes across the title, including Matchmaking performance issues, general UI and game stability improvements, as well as fixes for game-game specific issues in Halo: CE, Halo 2, and Halo 2: Anniversary, and more. The full patch notes will be posted later this week, in advance of the content update release. Thank you for your continued patience," the studio adds.

As such, expect the patch to appear on Thursday or even Friday. Depending on what happens during the certification process, a weekend release isn't out of the question.