Halo spin-off Spartan Strike delayed as 343 battles The Master Chief Collection matchmaking problems

343 Industries has delayed the launch of Halo spin-off Spartan Strike to early 2015 as it continues to battle issues with The Master Chief Collection.

The Microsoft-owned developer has released a raft of updates - the latest just eight hours ago - in a bid to improve matchmaking in Xbox One exclusive Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

343 said The Master Chief Collection matchmaking was its priority - and now it's delayed Spartan Strike, which had been due out on 12th December 2014.

"While we're excited about this all-new Halo experience, our commitment to resolving the current matchmaking issues in Halo: The Master Chief Collection remains the top priority," 343 said in an update on Halo Waypoint.

"As a result, we have decided to move the release of Halo: Spartan Strike to early 2015. We can't wait to show you more of Halo: Spartan Strike early next year."

Spartan Strike is the follow-up to 2013's Spartan Assault and, like its predecessor, is a touch-based top-down shooter for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Steam. An Xbox One version - unannounced at this stage - is expected in the future.

As for The Master Chief Collection, yesterday 343 released a new update focused on matchmaking, parties, custom games, achievements, stability and more.

Here's the patch notes:

MATCHMAKING & PARTIES

• Made improvements to matchmaking team balance
• Made an update to improve matchmaking search times and success rates, specifically expediting the "Players Found" and "Connecting Session" search phases
• Made improvements to prevent a player's rank from resetting unexpectedly
• Made an update to resolve an issue that allowed players to be placed into an incorrect lobby after a matchmaking game
• Made improvements to prevent the party from being disbanded upon returning to lobby
• Made an update to ensure that players are sorted by team in the "Match Found" screen
• Resolved an issue where Team Slayer matches in Halo 3 could separate players onto individual teams
• Resolved an issue where players could be placed into a group of 7 players and unable to find more
• Made improvements to ensure that the party-leader is prompted to "Bring Party" when leaving a lobby
• Made an update to ensure that split-screen players cannot be divided onto different teams
• Made improvements to ensure that clients are not kicked from parties at the end of matchmaking games with a "failed to connect" error
• Made an update to ensure that Halo 2: Anniversary matches do not continue indefinitely after entire opposing team quits
• Made an update to ensure that parties are not separated when the party leader navigates through multiple titles

CUSTOM GAMES

• Made improvements to prevent manual team selection from getting reset after a Custom Game match
• Made an update to ensure that the "Make Party Leader" command functions correctly

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Made an update to ensure that the "Too Close to the Sun" achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met
• Made an update to ensure that the "Monopolized" achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met
• Made an update to ensure that the "Devastating" achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met
• Made an update to ensure that the "You're Joking" achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met

GAME-SPECIFIC

• Made improvements to Halo 2: Anniversary objective pickup, specifically in regards to objective "juggling"
• Made an update to Halo 3's movement input, specifically to resolve a deadzone issue which affected moving in a straight line
• Made additional improvements to Halo: CE fall damage scenarios
• Made an update to resolve a Halo 2 Classic campaign issue where a black screen could overlay the gameplay screen

STABILITY

• Made a variety of stability improvements across the following areas:
• Matchmaking
• Custom Games
• Halo 4 Campaign

MISC.

• Made an update to ensure that clan tags appear in the post-game carnage report for all players
• Made an update to ensure that players are sorted by team in the post-game carnage report
• Made an update to ensure that emblems are displayed correctly in the post-game carnage report