The beauty of the latest console generation is that we’re now at a point where we can pre-load games in anticipation of new releases, saving everyone from the hassle of having to buy and then wait on launch day. That’s a neat idea, and one that will make the adoption of digital purchases that much simpler and convenient. If it works that is.

Because right now, the Xbox One is having some trouble with one of its biggest games of the year. Halo: The Master Chief Collection seem to be suffering from some sort of download bug, as pre-loading the game is turning out to be a nightmare.

Let’s take a look at Halo: The Master Chief Collection then. I’m supposed to be reviewing the game, and was kindly given an early access code so that I could do just that. The game itself clocks in at 45gb in size, due to it being a four games in one remastered deal, with a 20gb patch on the way for launch day. Fair enough, so downloading might take me a few days, but at least I can start playing once I’ve installed enough of it. Winner winner, chicken dinner.

Except that after a week of downloading, I’m still stuck at the 4% mark, as pausing/turning my console off results in constant resets:

Now for the sake of clarity, I am on a 2mb line. An unshaped line, wherein I download from between 10PMish until 6AM the following morning, to be precise. Here’s a look at my data logs from last night alone:

This morning, my download was sitting on 12% when I woke up. Now because I’m on a capped account, I regularly pause and resume downloads. Doing that again, resulted in Halo:TMCC being set back to 4%. This is a problem that I’ve had the entire week so far. And I’m not the only one, as the Halo Waypoint and IGN forums are also filled with folks who are also experiencing constant resets.

I’m not the only one locally having some trouble as Pennyworth Review’s Nick De Bruyne is also struggling:

@nxtrms @NeverGlade_ZA so I left xbox to DL all night til 6 and not switch off. Went to queue now and saw it flicker from 44% back to 32% — Nick de Bruyne (@NickdeBruyne) October 29, 2014

Now to be fair, this isn’t happening to everyone. Most folks are able to download the entire game without hassles. But this problem is popping up frequently. According to Microsoft support, clearing your persistent storage (five times for optimal effect), clearing your alternate MAC and doing a hard power cycle reset on your router should resolve the issue. I’ll be trying yet again tonight, and hopefully this method will work so that I can update the post.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection isn’t the only game experiencing issues however. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare is also having some download problems, as some gamers have unfortunately found out:

@NickdeBruyne @nxtrms @NeverGlade_ZA @GreyHamz my CoD:AW downloaded over 100GB on 25%. Had to abandon. Will use someone’s disc for install. — Xi Sh33p iX (@BlackSh33pZA) October 29, 2014

As I said, hopefully, this solution from Microsoft support works. Because I am dying to throw a plasma grenade in all the HDier pixels onto the faces of several locals who I game with regularly.

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