Halo: The Master Chief Collection microtransaction plans ditched

Master Chief in action — (Image credit: Microsoft)

Spartan Points are the currency in Halo: The Master Chief Collection used to unlock cosmetics. You have to actually play the game to earn them, but back in June, 343 Industries announced it was considering making them purchasable. The justification was cloaked in benevolence: it was to be an "optional, additive alternative for players who might find the vast scope of content to be an intimidating amount of playtime and want to get ahead on (or skip) the grind, or maybe want to grab the specific items they want."

It's true that MCC has a load of cosmetic items, including armour effects, voices, weapon skins and more. But if you consider playing Halo so toilsome that you'd prefer to pay to earn these in-game spoils, here's bad news, I guess: Halo: MCC is definitely not getting purchasable Spartan Points, 343 announced today. That's probably comforting news for existing Halo players who are proud to have earned their in-game garb the hard way.

Earning Spartan Points will become a bit easier too. It was announced in August that Spartan Points will soon be earned with every new level reached, and that players will retroactively receive these points if they're already at a higher—or max—level. Currently, challenges must be completed to earn the currency.

But that's not happening until November, with today's update just reaffirming those plans. "We are also looking to enact changes to the earn rates of Spartan Points and remove barriers that players have been facing. The 100-point cap is being removed, retroactive points will be granted, and we will be making further adjustments to Challenges to make them more rewarding, along with bringing back Double XP Weekends," 343 Industries writes.

All this follows a substantial content update for Halo: MCC, which released last month. It added a bunch of collectibles, new Forge options, and mod tools for Halo Reach among a lot of other stuff.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.