The competitive balance for a major esport, regardless of the title, is a delicate and ever-changing beast. In a scenario where millions of people can play a game for a myriad of different reasons, finding the right recipe of what works and satisfying the masses is a daunting task.
From the properties of in-game weapons and items to the spectator experience, game developers for esports titles have the power to change what they want, when they want. Players don't like the absence of a Baron buff at the beginning of the game? Add the Rift Herald. Think a pistol is too powerful? Nerf it. A power weapon too exposed to make it worth picking up? Move it elsewhere.
This property of esports contrasts sharply with traditional sports, which very rarely tolerate changes to the rules and tools of the game. If it's too difficult to land three-pointers in basketball, you can't just make the rim diameter larger. If batting averages are too low, you can't just move first base closer to home.
The way a developer can manipulate its game can have powerful and dangerous effects. Sometimes a change is met with an overwhelmingly positive response, other times a change is reverted within a matter of days due to "causing a lot of pain in the [game's] community." In order to ensure that the right call is made the first time around, Halo developer 343 Industries has taken a direct approach to solving the issue of competitive balance. The creators of esports titles Halo 4, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Halo 5: Guardians have invested in the longevity of Halo esports in the past; initiatives like hiring an advisory "Pro Team"-- a group of former professional Halo players -- have helped them design the landscape of how Halo is played competitively.
More recently, 343 established the HCS Council in order to determine the rules that will be used for the inaugural Halo Championship Series: Pro League that started this week. Andy "Bravo" Dudynsky (Community Manager, Halo Championship Series Lead) and Quinn DelHoyo (Multiplayer Designer) are two of many people that have been intimately involved in the development of Halo esports from the very beginning. They played a large role in the establishment and operations of the HCS Council.
"The goal for the HCS Council is to ensure that we're growing Halo esports in the best way possible, across all aspects of the league. In order to do it right, it's important to work alongside our top players, leverage their knowledge and expertise, and partner with them on continuing to grow Halo's competitive scene. We want to create a league we're proud of, a league that players love playing in and a league that fans love watching," said Bravo.
343 sought direct input from the players themselves when deliberating over the competitive ruleset. It conducted weekly calls with current professional players to ensure that no stone was left unturned in its quest to offer the best competitive Halo experience possible to both pro players and the community.
"When it comes to Halo multiplayer, Halo has a ton of fans and lots of different communities that have an opinion on the game. With that in mind, we think it's always important to get feedback from as large a variety of players as possible. The HCS Council is important because it provides an opportunity for pro players and us to have a direct link to facilitate conversation on the state of the game. These guys compete in Halo at the highest level so their feedback is very valuable as it gives us an improved perspective at that level of play," said DelHoyo.
The calls have been beneficial to both the players and the developers, according to DelHoyo. "The calls have been good. Any time you get a bunch of passionate people together in a room you'll get active debate on changes and exciting discussions around future ideas."
The process has not been simple though, as is expected when many voices speak their opinions on something they are passionate about. "It's difficult to get everyone to agree on everything, but that's also not the expectation. There are times when players debate power weapon locations, map/game type combinations, and everything in between. There may be five different opinions expressed, sometimes more. This type of feedback is exactly what we're looking for, though: what is working well, what do some teams love, what do some teams dislike, and, most importantly, why? These calls give us an opportunity to have meaningful conversations about all sorts of things, and the design teams here at the studio can take this feedback to answer the question of 'how can we build the best Halo multiplayer experience?'" added Bravo.
The partnership goes beyond the players and the developers in this case. 343 has also been partnering with ESL, producers of the HCS Pro League, to ensure open lines of communication across the board.
"We debate, we laugh, we argue, and in the end we collect all feedback and determine next steps with our dev team here and our partners at ESL. If something isn't working, we go back to the drawing board and revisit. If something should be changed but needs development time, we can communicate with players directly that we're evaluating changes for a future season, and let them know what stage we're at with the actual development work. Ultimately, it's about providing an open and regular line of communication and collecting feedback on all things from the best players in the world, " explained Bravo.
The players themselves reflected this positive perspective. "The weekly calls with 343 were brilliant. It felt good having an influence on what the settings would be for pro league which we would be playing on. During the calls they would ask us if anything played right or wrong, and if we wanted anything to be changed," shared Sal "eL TowN" Mohanan, pro player for Team EnVyUs. Carlos "Cratos" Ayala of Enigma6 also added, "They made changes to the maps and asked us for our feedback. They were always quick to apply what we discussed."
343's diligent attention to detail impressed its pro players. "I thought the calls were pretty helpful!" said Enigma6 player Jesse "bubu dubu" Moeller. "We were given maps and gametypes every week and gave feedback after playing them for a bit. Then we gave 343 input from what we thought until it was finalized."
The esports industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, and it shows no signs of slowing down. With developments like ELeague (a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league produced by TBS) firmly in mind, game developers have to consider their impact on the esports landscape in both the short term and long term. While 343 has a focus on the future of Halo esports, it also knows how to enjoy the successes it has now.
"We have come away with some key findings that we'll look to improve going forward," said Delhoyo. Bravo also added, "I think there's a lot of potential in this initiative and I hope players and fans do too. We'll absolutely utilize the HCS Council moving forward, and we've learned a great deal about how to collect feedback, the best ways to get proposed changes in front of players, and more. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Summer Season plays out and where Halo esports will go from here."
Fans loyal to Halo have been through highs and lows when it comes to the esports side of things, and it seems that 343 is invested in ensuring that the experience is smooth sailing from now on.