Halo 2 matchmaking was "a big risk" for Bungie

Bungie's Brian Jarrard has said that the matchmaking system in Halo 2 caused some concern with some of the team members working on the game, as some weren't too sure it was the right decision.

"I remember matchmaking, when we rolled that out with Halo 2 it was such a big risk," Jarrard told OXM. "We walked away from the established norm, there were no server lists - we turned the whole thing upside down and it was a big leap of faith.

"Even internally there were a lot of people saying, 'I don't know'. But I think it's really important that that social simplicity, finding people who are similar skill very quickly, in two button presses.

"Even in the beginning, we were watching it very carefully for backlash. But then, over a couple of months people warmed up to it, and now it's funny to see it come full circle. In a lot of ways its become one of the new standards for how people expect to play online."

Via CVG.