Halo: The Master Chief Collection supports full cross-gen matchmaking between the Xbox Series X and the Xbox One families.
In a recent Halo Waypoint blog post (opens in new tab), senior producer Matt Hohl explained some of the features heading to MCC when the upgrade drops on November 17.
If you're a committed MCC player, you might have noticed a small patch released last week. According to Hohl, that update was designed "to make sure players can play together across Xbox generations," as the loading times on the new consoles are so short "that we have to make sure it doesn't disrupt matchmaking." Sadly, that might suggest that you'll still have to wait for loading screens if you're playing alongside those on the older machines.
Elsewhere, Hohl says there'll be "a raw performance improvement across the board" for those playing on the Xbox Series X or Series S, allowing for frame rates of up to 120fps at 4K on the Series X (you'll only get 1080p on Series S). If your setup isn't quite good enough to support all those frames, however, you should get to see some other benefits - "we have also included some graphic enhancements to the game such as increased draw distances within levels and improved split-screen experiences in Campaign and Multiplayer."
A few of those features, as well as the next-gen upgrade itself, were announced last month, confirming the launch of this update for November 17. Even if the MCC isn't quite an Xbox Series X launch game (and in spite of the Halo Infinite delay), Master Chief won't be absent from the new consoles for too long.
Check out what else is in store for Master Chief with the upcoming Xbox Series X games.
