343 Industries explains reason for delayed 'Halo Wars 2''Colony' DLC

"Halo Wars 2" was launched on Feb. 21.Xbox/Microsoft

The latest downloadable content (DLC) for "Halo Wars 2" has been delayed due to a "game-breaking" bug, developer 343 Industries has revealed.

Initially scheduled for an early April 2017 release, the upcoming "Colony" DLC features a new army leader based on Halo's Hunters. IGN notes that the new expansion's delay is caused by a crippling bug, which centers on the new Skitterer units. The said units can be linked to friendly units and turn into an auto-targeting turret. The bug currently plaguing the game means that once locked on, Skitterers could still fire at enemies despite their range. This means they are capable of firing from across the entire map.

The studio also refers to the issue as a "game-breaking bug," but it is worth noting that the bug does not exactly break the game. Instead, it just alters gameplay in such a way that not all players would like.

In a press release, the developers of the game said they realized that the bug would eventually turn into "a cheap exploit that would immediately result in some really bad game experiences and [a] whole lot of salt from players on the receiving end."

Rather than releasing a broken DLC, 343 Industries made the tough call of delaying the update to let the "Halo Wars 2" development team fix the issue first. "As much as we hate to let down players and fall through on a promise, holding the DLC to make sure these issues get addressed is the right, albeit painful, call to make," the team further stated.

The good news for "Halo Wars 2" fans is that "Colony" is now slated to be launched sometime this week. Aside from the new army leader, the "Colony" DLC also gives gamers two more achievements to unlock: "Hunter/Hunted," which uses Hunter Captain's Taunt skill 50 times and "Turrets Everywhere," which allows players to attach 50 Skitterers to squads.

Developed by 343 Industries and Creative Assembly, "Halo Wars 2" is exclusively available for Xbox One and PC platforms.