Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an excellent value, in the sense that it offers a ton of content without much in the way of additional monetization, but it seems 343 Industries can't just leave well-enough alone. In their most recent Halo Waypoint update, 343 mentions that they’re considering rolling out a “new feature” that would allow players to purchase Spartan Points with real money in order to unlock cosmetics and other items faster.

　　As we’ve shifted away from Seasons, what has previously been named “Season Points”—points earned by completing challenges and levelling up to unlock items—will eventually be renamed “Spartan Points” in a future update. Over the years that the MCC has been continually supported with new content, the game now features well over 1000+ individual customization items spanning armor, attachments, nameplates, weapon and vehicle skins, armor effects, Firefight voices, and more. That’s quite a lot!

　　For players who are new to the MCC, or who may not have dedicated much time specifically to unlocking items during the seasonal updates, or are simply completionists looking to catch the last outstanding items they need, we are internally exploring a potential new feature for the future in the form of purchasable Spartan Points.

　　It is prudent to note here that we are happy with the current system of how players earn Spartan Points, by completing challenges and levelling up through play. This would 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 specific items they want (we all have our favorites!)

　　In the interest of transparency with our dedicated and passionate community, we wanted to inform you of this exploration in advance and provide assurance that purchasable Spartan Points would be an additive feature. We will have more information to share about this in the future.

　　343 is certainly trying to make adding microtransactions sound like a benign, even helpful, feature, but let’s be real about what this is. After years of updates 343 finally got Halo MCC into a place where people are happy with it and are moving onto new things, so they’re quietly installing a new way to keep the cash flowing on the way out the door. Kudos to them for at least announcing it beforehand I suppose, but it is what it is.

　　Halo: The Master Chief Collection is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.