As announced in the Halo 4 weapons tuning update release date post, developer 343 Industries are to hold a Halo 4 live stream in order for fans to get a look and feel for what Halo 4‘s weapons will be like after the tuning update goes live June 3rd.

The latest Halo Bulletin was published today, revealing the time and date at which the weapons tuning live stream is to take place, where they are currently at with the weapons tuning process and details on the next matchmaking playlist update.

Halo 4 developer 343 Industries are currently hard at work on an update for their sci-fi shooter that will re-tune / balance a number of the game’s weapons. However, the team have got to be very careful when it comes to tuning Halo 4′s weapons because getting things wrong could mean making the whole multiplayer side of the game unbalanced. In order to make sure that they get it right first time, they are taking their time.

343 have been doing a good job so far keeping us in the loop regarding where they are at with the tuning and testing. In the latest Halo Bulletin, however, the developer said that they are nearing the end of tweaking and tuning each weapon and will be inviting a small group of community members into the studio to get a sneak peak at the new changes.

With the Competitive Skill Rank system now live and kicking, the team at 343 Industries are now focusing more of their efforts on getting a weapons balancing update ready for Halo 4. The developer gave us an update last week on their progress with the whole process, today they have narrowed down their tentative plans for the weapons balancing.

It should be noted that the changes outlined below are far from final - everything is subject to change, and probably will be. The reason 343 Industries are releasing this data is because they want to “invite fans and players into this process so they can get a glimpse behind the curtain”. This started last week when the developer revealed their basic goals in regard to weapon tuning. Today they are opening it even further by discussing the progress that was made last week.

Developer 343 Industries added the ability to re-balance Halo 4‘s weapons without having to go through the tedious patching process as part of a recent update. Now that they can fine-tune weapons with a simple hotfix, the team are “currently evaluating the state of Halo 4’s weapon balance” in order to identify weapons and categories of weapons that need some attention. 

Halo 4‘s Competitive Skill Rank (CSR), the system that monitors a players skill level, applies a rank from 1-50, and uses the data it collects to help with matchmaking, today went live to coincide with the launch of the Castle map pack.

Competitive Skill Rank has been working in the background since Halo 4 was launched – as detailed in a post back in November, 2012 – but the team at 343 Industries have been making changes to the system, analyzing the data, and making more changes over the last few months in order to make sure that it “presents a challenge while still providing an optimal Matchmaking experience” when it went live.

A new Halo 4 title update has been released today by developer 343 Industries, fixing a number of issues and adding a couple new features.

Halo 4′s title update 3 isn’t the biggest patch that the game has seen, but it adds a few interesting features. The first new feature adds the ability for 343 Industries to fine tune weapons without the need for a full blown patch.

343 Industries’ Kevin Franklin, Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky and Jessica Shea joined Certain Affinity’s Tom Potter and Rooster Teeth’s Bernie Burns on a PAX East panel over the weekend. On the agenda for discussion for the hour-long event was the past, present and future of Halo 4‘s multiplayer.

Various teams across the studio at 343 Industries have been hard at work putting together Halo 4‘s next title update. While it’s not expected to go live for a few weeks, Halo 4′s title update 3 is in such a state that the developer has decided to release the patch notes.

At first glance the list may appear smaller than your average update, but one thing in particular presents a myriad of future opportunities.

343 Industries today announced a release date for the third Halo 4 map pack, the Castle Map Pack. Coming Monday, April 8 and developed by Certain Affinity in collaboration with 343 Industries, the Castle Map Pack brings three new medium-to-large maps (Daybreak, Outcast and Perdition) that emphasize vehicular warfare and large battles over open spaces.