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Halo: The Master Chief Collection gets Halo 4's Spartan Ops

Plus, what's going on with dedicated servers?

343 has added Spartan Ops mode from Halo 4 to Xbox One exclusive first-person shooter Halo: The Master Chief Collection as it continues to work to improve the game.

Spartan Ops is a mission-based co-op mode in Halo 4 in which up to four players assume the role of a group of Spartan-IVs knows as Fireteam Crimson.

Today's latest Halo: The Master Chief Collection update includes Spartan Ops in its entirety - so that's all 10 episodes.

The update also includes improvements for matchmaking, roster and custom games. The patch notes are over at Halo Waypoint.

Meanwhile, 343 addressed concern among the Halo community about The Master Chief's dedicated servers.

Some have wondered whether dedicated servers have ever been active for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, given the game's online woes, but 343 insisted they have been up and running since launch, "and we continue to optimise and improve connectivity".

"The vast majority of games are being played on dedicated servers, but in the event that players cannot connect to a dedicated server, the lobby will stay together and the match will still occur on a peer-to-peer connection," 343 explained.

"Please be aware that you may connect to the dedicated server quickly enough that you won't see the 'connecting to dedicated server' dialog. The absence of that dialog doesn't mean that you're not playing on a dedicated server."

Cover image for YouTube videoSpartan Ops Episode 1: Departure