Halo Infinite<\/em>‘s multiplayer mode.<\/p>\n\u201cWe’re the only Halo Infinite<\/em> API on the market, a ton of services rely on us, 343 won’t release a public API [in the] short term, and we may say goodbye to the community,\u201d he told us Kotaku<\/em>.<\/p>\nHaloDotAPI serves as the spine for a slew of community-run data collation efforts in the Halo Infinite<\/em> community There’s the aforementioned Halo Data Hive, yes, but it’s also used leaf<\/span> and Spartan Record<\/span>two other multiplayer stat-tracking sites; Halo Medals<\/span>a database that shows you how many medals, or in-game accolades for impressive feats, you’ve earned in Halo Infinite<\/em>; and True Achievements<\/span>the popular achievement-tracking site.<\/p>\n\u201c[It\u2019s] an elegant tool powering over two dozen community apps and websites, which are in turn used by thousands of players every day,\u201d a representative for HaloHub<\/span>a news and content organization that serves as sort of a town square for the halo<\/em> community, told Kotaku<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n
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screenshot: 343 Industries<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nRunning an API for all of this stuff is expensive. (We spent $2,500 of his own money getting it off the ground; that cost was offset, but not by much, by about $300 in Patreon funding.) Last month, Autocode founder CEO Keith Horwood wrote in a blog post<\/span> that HaloDotAPI is no longer financially sustainable and would shut down at the end of July, effectively ending any services that rely on its data.<\/p>\n\u201cThere are two categories of costs to consider when running any sort of web service,\u201d Horwood told Kotaku<\/em>. \u201cThe one most people are familiar with is the cost of infrastructure: How much does it cost to run the darn thing? Something that folks who aren’t in tech miss is the cost of operations: We have to pay to feed the people who work on these tools! So it’s a combination of infrastructure and salaries.\u201d<\/p>\nThe folks behind HaloDotAPI say that 343 Industries or its owner, Microsoft, could step in and save the project. To date, both companies have declined to take any action. What’s more, 343 hasn’t detailed any tangible plans about releasing a proprietary internal API.<\/p>\n
This is already having a chilling effect on the services that make use of it. Most of the multiplayer stats sites appear to be busted. Halo Data Hive, whose representatives did not respond to Kotaku<\/em>‘s request for comment, now has this statement plastered on its site, emphasis Kotaku<\/em>‘s:<\/p>\n\nNotice: Halo Data Hive is currently no longer tracking HCS scrims, tournaments etc until I finish updating the code to reduce the number of calls to Halo Dot API to hopefully fall into a lower priced subscription. During this time you will also no longer be able to search your own service record<\/strong>. Sorry for the inconvenience. You can read up more about it here The Future of HaloDotAPI #SaveHaloDotAPI. Halo Data Hive currently makes 4,100 calls to the API per hour which costs $450 per month. my aim [is] to reduce this to the $95 subscription.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nSays he’s been in contact with 343 Industries since December. When it became clear that HaloDotAPI couldn’t continue without assistance, the developer passed the buck to Microsoft, citing issues with data privacy and legal compliance. But Horwood, in that blog post, noted that Autocode has been in contact with Microsoft, who said their compliance departments wouldn’t stand in 343’s way. My read is that the folks behind HaloDotAPI care less about stewarding this data than ensuring players can have access to it, whoever’s behind the project. Ball’s back in 343’s court.<\/p>\n
\u201cMicrosoft sees the value in @halodotapi and have agreed to assist with legal compliance,\u201d HaloHub said in a tweet<\/a><\/span>. \u201cBut, as it stands, 343i won’t step up to fund the very reasonable cost of the project. If 343i are serious about reviving #HaloInfinite then this is a terrible business decision.\u201d<\/p>\nhalo<\/em> esports lead Tahir \u201cTashi\u201d Hasandjekic addressed the impending closure of HaloDotAPI in an interview<\/span> with the Twitch streamer LouisVTitan<\/span>. Tashi acknowledged that an API exists for both Halo 5<\/em> and Halo Wars 2<\/em>, and noted how important it is to the playerbase. \u201cFor the esports side, we truly believe in all of that,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\u201cLong term, our own API is the solution here,\u201d he went on. \u201cWe understand the importance. We definitely feel for the community and the developers, if this goes away. But that’s just the reality of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
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If you’re familiar with the production of <\/em>Halo Infinite and would like to chat, on or off the record, my inbox is always open: anotis@kotaku.com (Signal and Proton upon request).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\nTashi did not provide a timeline for when 343 might roll such a thing out. Representatives for 343 Industries did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
\nRight now, HaloDotAPI has a few weeks left before it goes dark. Fans have spent the past month rallying on Twitter around the #SaveHaloDotAPI hashtag<\/a><\/span>. there’s an ongoing fundraiser<\/span> for the project, too, but it’s not looking so hot. Autocode needs about $10,000 a month to keep HaloDotAPI going indefinitely; right now, they’re at $601. (In the event of an imminent shutdown, Horwood told Kotaku<\/em> any contributions will be refunded to donors.) Without intervention of some sort, there’s a good chance this data goes offline.<\/p>\n\u201cI really hope there’s a decision maker at 343 willing to engage with us because we’d love to see a positive outcome here,\u201d Horwood said. \u201cThe community would too.\u201d<\/p>\n
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