The Decline of Halo Custom Games 

Dude it physically hurts to be a halo fan right now. The TF2 community gets treated better than us and valve completely forgot about them 💀

Dude customs alone could've brought the game's population back a good bit if they were usable, but everything involving them is just tedious and difficult. If the browser wasn't hidden, and they fixed all the game killing bugs, and they advertise it instead of store packs, and of course they brought back infection to be a base for other customs, it would be absolutely amazing.

Never underestimate 343 incompetence

Biggest problem for me was when I tried to enter almost any lobby, I had to wait ages to load a game, and when I load it, the game finished, or it kicked me out for some reason. At some point I gave up and didn't bother with customs, and that's a shame because I love customs on MCC.

My favorite Custom Game is an oldie but a goodie, Drive or Die. Sandtrap. A full 16 player lobby. Just pure unadulterated bedlam. Seeing Warthogs just soaring across Sandtrap and if one flipped over seeing a whole swarm of Zombies surround the Warthog was always a hilarious sight.

As someone who plays custom games regularly I noticed a significant drop in players on customs when bookmarks broke and with the games issues only getting worse over time like the obnoxious default settings glitch for example I believe the casual audience of customs just gave up on the game because it wasn’t worth all the frustration anymore

perosnally, I don't really play Halo infinite anymore ( for the reasons that everyone states frequently so I won't reiterate them lol) but I specifically couldn't get into the customs because of how unstable it all was. I only had so much free time to kick back and play games and I just couldn't see myself having to deal with constant crash-to-desktops or super long load times or getting kicked etc. It really made it more of a stressfull unenjoyable experience. It also doesn't help that because of all this all my mates gave up too so there really isnt a drive to play the game for me anymore.

Remember when the 343i cheerleader channels would say custom games and forge would save the game?

Was really hyped to play customs. That video you made when the browser first came out was better advertising for it than anything 343 made.

Zniper and Duck Hunt were two that I played a lot. Loved Monstertrucks/Bumper cars back in 3 and made my own variant called Double Trouble for the maps I made. Most people only used some basic platform so I decided to spice things up with multiple levels, man cannons, pits, shield walls, and kill balls. It's probably what me and my main group of xbl friends played together for customs.

343i, communication-wise, seems to have a really huge problem of thinking way more people follow their insular Waypoint site and updates more than they do, wanting to make it THE social hub for Halo. Which back in the 360/One days made sense when you’d have that experience ready in the console. They didn’t expand on that, torched the app, and shut everything down, but in that moment I could understand them doing that. But they still seem to be under the impression that…that’s still how it works? As they simultaneously continue to cut off more ways for the community to talk to each other (see the recent shutdown of the Waypoint Forums). They want the Forge Features to be THE spotlight and nothing else, while also wanting the community to do the legwork for them during a time when the game is fucking floundering and gasping for air. That’s another huge factor as to why you don’t see people making Custom Games in Infinite; they’ve given no avenue to care and most importantly, no at to share your creation than either through them…or trying to impress jackasses on Reddit and Twitter. Cuz the game is otherwise dead outside those communities; neither of which facilitate having fun, just showing off. Why show off to an audience that hates you? Or get the attention of a company that doesn’t give two shits about you?

That was a pretty funny way to start to video lmao

I personally never got into the whole custom games craze but it bothers me that 343 neglects that subsection of the community with Infinite. Glad you’re bringing awareness on the subject for ppl like me. (rare serious TMM comment)

I’m gonna be honest man, might be time to just throw in the towel. There’s absolutely nothing short of a full relaunch that can have a *chance* at bringing back Infinite’s player base. It’s time for redemption similar to game’s like Siege has already passed. Maybe next time around, if there ever is one.

There really should be a daily or at least a weekly for participating in the customs browser. That way, people who don't know about it, will learn about it, and people who otherwise wouldn't try it, do try it.

The problem with Halo Infinites stability will probably never be fixed. The amount of spaghetti code and technical debt is responsible for most of the issues. You cant just fix something if it breaks everything else. This game has issues that are baked into its foundation and its rotten to the core. I also feel like they dont want you to play custom games you are supposed to grind for the battle pass, be frustrated and buy the challenge swaps or spend your money in the store. Thats something 343 would do.

I've jumped into a few customs recently. There were 4 lobbies. The game kept kicking us to lobby after taking forever to load. I always forget how to leave a lobby, I need to click on fire team, click my name then leave lobby. That's so stupid. Customs are such a hassle to play. I play Infinite customs maybe once every few months. I play Halo 3 customs fairly often.

MCC has the older games we all know and love, so most old Halo players like myself would be on there more than Infinite. We haven't really had anything good since the Bungie era and it shows.

Halo 5 is active because it's one of the most creative Halo custom games out there. The weapon pad glitch only takes like 2 minutes to set up.

your editing always gives me chills brotha. keep up the stella work

Not including Infection in Halo Infinite was literally the killing blow that kept me from ever playing it again. Sure, you can make fun games out of the other modes, but Infection was what kept me playing Halo 3 for years making and playing custom games set up by others. As for MCC... I tried custom games on there, but it was hard loading into them, my old friend circle was gone, and it just wasn't the same. The vibe was gone. Part of me was telling me that the good old days weren't coming back. So I gave up and moved on. Painful to say, but true.

I genuinely didn't know there was a game mode in the "community" tab, I just assumed it was something else...

I was literally looking at the Halo Infinite server browser last week and only seeing less than a page of lobbies and just feeling so down about the state of this game

omg, that opening clip is amazing! another great upload!

Fatkid and Jenga on H3 were legendary

We will no longer drink from the fountain of disappointment that is 343.

I still do custom games on halo 3 because thats the only way i can still play halo 3 online without mods

The addition of a customs browser was amazing. The issue I found that made custom games so bad was.... I got older, didnt have the imagination and time I had as a kid.. That's it. Its the same as getting a bunch of people together as a kid but you just dont have the spark you did before.

I have to ask, what was the version of the song ‘Spirit Of Fire’ used at 3:00? It sounds different to the one from the Halo Wars.

HOW DID I MISS AN UPLOAD??! What a banger of a video. The placement and treatment of the customs browser is downright depressing, so I’m glad you brought it up. I can’t believe Halo 5 of all games did it better😭

I was in this vid!

I think one of the biggest problem lie on how restricting the customs are on Infinite it's too complex to modify or too complex to build a entirely new custom game/map also you LITERALLY can't have multiple teams besides it's unstable and confusing unfortunately...

I actually didn't even know Infinite had custom game browser.

Another perfect video from Laper Larden. You are a video essay genius my friend.

Yea thats about right. I was excited for the Custom Browser release and then i could not get it to work. Stuck in loading most of the time. Tried again a few months later and same issues

The original Halo Combat Evolved is by far my favorite game of the series. I love the way they balanced the weapons/gameplay/maps in this game. It's unique. It's so well thought out for all out fun. Yet if you want to play skilled modes you can too. You can couch co-op party play. Co-op the campaign. I love how the game is crafted to bring out certain types of play style with-in people. It leaves room for goofing around, while equally allowing for a test of your knowledge and skills of the game to see who can utilize things the best. The maps are so unique compared to other multiplayer games. They aren't just copying COD 3 lane map layouts. The campaign is great, the flood, the gathering of ammo, health packs, shields, cloak. The way they built it so you start out with base weapons and you each have to go around the map to aquire weapons and more during gameplay, really creates a awesome structure to how the game is needed to be played. +It's my opinion that The A.I. is by far the BEST A.I. It's so interesting to go up against the enemies in this game. The enemies have such diverse dynamic behavior and reaction responsiveness. Not just enemies, your own soldier's that team up with you to drive vehicle's in the story mode, really adds depth to the campaign mode. The level of customization of game modes is like nothing we have today. You could Customize your own personal character. You could make your own game modes. You could make Serious game modes or dorking around game modes or just all out crazy Overpowered madness game modes. I absolutely LOVE THIS GAME and I still own and play the OG version on a old school original Xbox as well as a Xbox 360. (I haven't gotten a Xbox system after the 360. That era was the peak in my opinion)

The fact I didn’t even know the customs browser came out is a testament to their idiocy I literally had to look up wether infection was out or not because on 1 hand there’s gameplay and on the other there’s no update notes or anything at all

halo RU-vidr: this feature could be improved halo fans that are not RU-vidrs: OMG FIRE 343

There is a custom games browser?! How did i miss this

Well, there is some good news when it comes to this topic. Unyshek recently tweeted that the CGB was going to get a spot next to custom games on the main menu and not just tucked away as you mention at 4:25. Otherwise the rest is a little depressing

Me and my friend are the dudes glitching ourselves up the map together @ 11:54 😂😂😂😂 ppl have been sending me this clip because they recognize my tag. Can’t believe this hahaha

Good to see new content from you lederlappen! It's sad that custom games are broken and forgotten since 2012. Especially halo infinite custom games are dead. Propably because the Browser is buggy as hell. Cannot join custom games because I get stuck in loading queue and if I shut down the game (this is the only way to get unstuck) all my settings get reset to default. Really annoying to readjust all your settings every 2 games.

Infection is very essential for custom games although trust 343 for taking so long im praying it out on site unseen even though the leak build of infection surprising works really well and looks very finished. The patch it later mentality is really tireing. You also make a very great point on how hidden the custom games browser is

That landmark mall map!! 👀👀

I’ve been playing infinite since it came out and I’ve never gone over to the other tabs

I'm sad, Halo feels actually dead. The last last time I played halo was Halo 5. I played MCC and Infinite but is wasn't enough to keep me playing year round like I use to. I lost my last Halo friend when I switched to PC and life just moved on. Big sad.

Custom Games have fallen, millions must be assassinated in my tower.

The physics in infinite just is not there for those really fun customs like jenga and stuff sadly. Crazy how they could do it in halo 3 an not now.

I’m to a point where I play halo infinite as a split screen game, playing against ai in random forge maps. I wish the online multiplayer would just work for once, and even offline custom games on Xbox have lots of problems, like with split screen, anyone other than player one (if it’s a forge map) has a different skybox and all of the atmospheric particles and all that removed. I love this game, it’s fun, it has good story, at least in the campaign, and the forge is incredible! It’s just a pain to see it turn into this, and I’ve moved on from halo. I still play it, but I mainly play stuff like Destiny 2. I also play Splitgate, which is somehow still doing better than Halo! I’m just tired of all of this.

Miss playing fatkid with those other Spartans. Don't miss playing it with the Elites though. Filthy split lips...

The meme in the beginning of the video reminded me of when I was playing infinite with a friend we were 1v1ing and we kept using active camo

The intro had me in tears.

Didn’t even know half the maps shown in this video existed.

A big thing that ruined customs was the lack of people talking in game chat anymore it’s boring without the socialising aspect

Dude I've not even touched MCC in months n that's the saddest thing to a devout halo fan

this. this. fucking, this. custom games are the heart of halo, and players are the veins connected to it. without a heart, there's no need for veins. this game needs custom games to come back full force, and play the best modes ever made

Still having occasional issues loading into games. And no infection still makes things difficult. It's the basis of almost all the best classic custom games

The reason, at least for me, is because I literally cannot make any forge maps without them becoming corrupted half way through making them. If I could make maps, I'd be hosting big lobbies just like I did in H5

Halo community: Custom games will save Infinite! Infinite custom games: (dies)

I didn’t even know infinite had a custom games browser. I’ll have to check it out

I live in the U.S. I appreciate the "Biden after 7 beers" part. Also, I only pay attention to this channel regarding Halo, you have the most substance and humor. What a bro

It's not just seeing less activity than Halo 5's CGB DID, it's seeing less activity than Halo 5's CGB DOES, CURRENTLY. Same for MCC, by far.

I agree with all your points and that is definitely a factor, but do you not see how Halo Infinite's gameplay, physics, and sandbox design do not conduce themselves to fun interactive custom games? Let's look at one example: The gravity hammer. In Halo: Reach, hitting the humans in Speed Halo with a gravity hammer was a herculean task to properly time. Now try playing Reach Speed Halo with Infinite's gravity hammer. No way. Repulsoccer exists because the devs understand the Gravity Hammer would not be fun to use in Grifball, at least in Halo Infinite. The devs made the Repulsor because they recognized that they made the Gravity Hammer suck. Remember when enemy players had needlers and concussion rifles and you were the fatkid and you had to use your hammer to boost yourself closer but that meant turning your back to the players, ie good self regulating design? Now you have to give the fatkid a repulsor, which means you can't give them a different piece of equipment and it also means that they have to be able to hold equipment which means you can't have other pieces of equipment on the fatkid map because if the fatkid gets the grappling hook, now your bulky bullet spongey boss enemy can insta teleport to you and insta kill you and that's no fun. That was all just on the gravity hammer. I could do that on several different weapons, vehicles, physics properties, player movement, etc.

At first I was confused by the video title - because I'm one of the many who went back to MCC at Infinite being so bad. MCC customs has been thriving for 2-3 years now. If it were the game benefitting from F2P, there'd be tens of thousands playing every day.

Reminds me of battlefront 2

I can never figure out how to leave a fire team, I just close the game and open it again, it’s confusing

I think there’s an important part that I want to bring attention to which is the fact that I can’t have couch co-op. My family and I usually play games together, two people upstairs, two people downstairs where we fly around forge world on jet packs and shoot eachother from across the map. I was hoping halo infinite would let me and my family move on to a new game where I can make them super fun maps with my brother like always. Nope. There’s no couch co-op. It really sucks and I feel like with co-op added, it could boost the community a lot. It’d get people playing together again as just two friends who want to have a good time. It just sucks we can’t have that anymore.

when you finally get into a match and it's just a bunch of weirdos standing around not playing on a map the size of the entire campaign

I made a map and custom game mode that I think is pretty dope af Map: Inverted Gym Jungle Mode: Grap n’ Slash CTF best played with a big lobby of 16+

Jimmy Rings meme made it to one of your videos haha

9:29, remember Forge Labs? The guy that used to review Halo 5: Guardians Forge Maps in great detail? Dude branched out to make Minecraft content and never touched Halo again. But yeah, I still play Halo: TMCC almost daily to play Jump Rope, Day Z (teabagging = trust me, bro), Drive or Die, Hot Pursuit (essentially cops & robbers), Just Keep Driving, etc... I haven't touched Halo Infinite since Mouldy Cabbage3's third last video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ueJzyizD90s.html) because I don't really enjoy Halo Infinite for what it is. I only enjoy Halo with other people.

DatAlbo checking in

If Forge and Custom games browser was available on release. The game would have tens of thousands of people playing on steam vs a mere few thousand or less.

I think it says something about the importance of games launching feature-complete. The powers at be at 343 thought that they could comfortably ship an unfinished game and the players would be sustained by a rotating cash shop..

Night of the Mantis from Halo 5 was amazing

I tried custom games browser today and it wont even let me join any of the games. Just keeps timing out.

Cannot stress enough how much fumbling around for another map and mode kills the momentum of hosting customs on infinite. I tried once and was having a surprisingly good time until my game crashed after like 4 games

Been playing halo since was a child, was so hyped for custom games but all the bugs ruined it for me

Also we are forgetting some* big halo content creators moved away because of responsibilities or because of the incompetence of 343i

i do have a computer science degree and i was diving into forge scripting and i was making some cool maps. really liked it. but then i kept seeing the really well made maps not getting any love on the customs browser - because literally no one is left there, so i lost the drive. they needed to release forge and the customs browser on day 1. and yeah, customs browser needs to be front page. every time i even try to drag my fireteam into it, it's super awkward. really sucks that this still has to be said.

First impressions are everything and if you can't manage to sustain that important part, your game may not last. As somebody who has loved Halo since 2001 it's been a part of my DNA. It would be a game I would choose over everything else. But when it came to Halo infinite I could barely enjoy it and when forge came around along with the custom game browser I couldn't get myself into it. Because of how barebone the community became. It's why I don't forge because I had a lot of maps I wanted to do but to me what would be the point in creating something so great or that I think would be a lot of fun if you don't have the population or people to play it with? It really hurts seeing how this franchise has been handled while other franchises have flourished and become better. I will always love Halo but in the meantime I have other games that are better than preoccupy my attention.

dope vid

12:15 I thought you were going to end with - and anything that actually which is feature complete and works as it should from day one. There’s a demand for that about all else. Oh and split screen co-op

When my friend and I played our first puzzle map in Infinite, the collision on the blocks was bugged and it ended up blocking our path... And you can't compete on forge maps if your ping is above 150 because the net-code shits itself and you rubber-band and experience more desync and registration problems than you will on dev-made maps. Halo 5 was actually similar, with registration problems on forge maps but it wasn't nearly as bad as it is in Infinite. The performance of this game is so poor and I know without doubt that so many other people experience the same shit I do and that's why they don't play anymore.

Thankfully this video aged like milk and fixed the custom game browser issue. They listen

11:09 yeah it’s kinda sad that even forge the one thing everyone could point to and say “hey at least halo has THIS and no other console game does” is being lost

i just met this man in a game 2 days ago i said u real? he said yes i said cool best interaction with a youtuber ever

Theres so many tools to make INSANE maps in infinite but almost no one uses them.

I think 343 watched your video!

Lmao best Ad placement ever!

Customs is sad :( we need a state of the game update. Something. please. MCC took years to stabilize - looks like that's the case with infinite.

Have you thought about expanding or are you only interested in Halo vids?

Wow I didnt know Chips Dubbo had a RU-vid channel

Halo infinite (loading screen)

“It really upsets me to see this:” Minecraft youtuber advertisement

Should have added, the custom games settings you do make end up baked in. You can't edit the bots difficulty or some of the weapons after it's saved... then figuring out which one is the new, good one is hard to figure out cuz the Title is truncated in the list. lol. Nothing like slowing down momentum with a few players when you have to tell them you have to re-edit the settings again... "Super fun!!! We having super fun yet??? No??? Sorry guys... =("

i feel hip making this halo video almost a week ago to bad the video didnt do well on my channel hahaha

Anyone loves odst firefight (goated as hell)

I tried to get into a custom game which had ai firefight mode in it and i was just stuck in infinite (pun intended) loading until the game kept disconnecting me from the server

Well they are moving it now!