The next Halo game will launch with a massive day-one update, Microsoft announced today—you'll have to download 20 GB worth of "features and multiplayer content" to complete the Halo: Master Chief Collection, which is out November 11 for Xbox One.


That day-one update comes on top of what Microsoft says is a Blu-ray disc packed with 45 GB worth of Master Chief shooting things. Hope you've got a fast internet connection! Microsoft does note that players will be able to start cranking through campaigns in this Halo collection, which includes the main four Halo games, before the patch is finished.

Here's Microsoft:

From the start, our philosophy has been to give Halo fans the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the collection. The result is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single Blu-ray (45 GB), and we will also issue a content update at launch that is estimated to be 20 GB. You'll be able to start playing Campaign and more as the content is installing, with some features and multiplayer content being added via the update. Yes, the update is large, but we weren't about to cut corners to save disc space. This ensures that you are getting every bit of Halo goodness we can fit in. Our work is not done, however, as we continue to tune, tweak and optimize the online experience to ensure a smooth multiplayer launch. This will continue right up until launch day.


The silver lining: If you're sure you want the game and you're OK with a digital copy, you can pre-order and pre-download both the full game and the day-one patch before November 11. Says a Microsoft rep to Kotaku:

If your Power Options are set to "Instant-On" and you have enabled "Automatic download updates and purchases," then the content update will be downloaded in advance of launch.

On the other hand, if you've got a bandwidth cap or really crazy restrictions from your broadband provider, well, this really sucks, huh?