Halo 2 tops Live most-played list

By Games Industry.biz Published 21 February, 2006

For last week of 'boxing.

Microsoft's director of programming for Xbox Live, Larry Hryb, has revealed the latest info on the most popular Xbox Live games for its next-generation console, with original Xbox title Halo 2 taking a prominent lead.

Bungie's multi-million selling title was a massive hit on the Xbox, and its multiplayer modes were a significant boost for the online Xbox Live service, attracting a wealth of new subscribers signing up to compete against other gamers around the world.

The title is one of the select few games that are fully back-compatible with the new Xbox 360 console, and Bungie has also updated the title a little, adding a few graphical tweaks to enhance the experience for those with an HDTV.

The second most popular Live game at the moment is Activision's Call of Duty 2, followed by Rare's launch title, Perfect Dark Zero. Both, like the current crown holder Halo 2, fall into the first-person shooter genre, which has traditionally commanded a significant amount of time spent online in death-match and massive team-based skirmishes.

Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4, which jumped straight into the top of the all-format sales charts on its release, before being pushed out of the top by EA's Need for Speed: Most Wanted, is steadily building a strong multiplayer presence and increases in the retail supply of Microsoft's console has improved the attachment rate for the title, which could climb the popularity ranks further in the coming weeks.

Project Gotham Racing 3, despite losing out to Need for Speed in the software sales chart, is currently performing better than its EA arcade style rival, nestling in at fifth place while Need for Speed Most Wanted tails behind in sixth.

Seventh place goes to another Xbox original, with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat holding its own in the next-gen arena. Madden NFL 06 is at number eight, followed by Xbox Live Arcade title Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - the first Xbox Live Arcade title to enter the most-played list.

2K Sports creeps into tenth with its NBA 2K6 game, though with a number of new releases and a rapidly improving customer base thanks to renewed hardware supplies at retail, the most popular online games look likely to change pretty quickly in the coming weeks.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Perry #1 6 years ago

    Never liked Halo 2 myself, that could be because I rarely go online for gaming.

    Poker, that is a different thing....
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/06 @ 10:19

  • Genji #2 6 years ago

    Halo 2 most popular Live game? I am shocked.

  • Zomoniac #3 6 years ago

    But EA didn't make NBA 2K6...

  • gizmo #4 6 years ago

    Annoying that BF2 still only works on the old xbox. Maybe they don't want to dent sales of the 360 version. Nah, I'm just being cynical there aren't I.

    I have to say the BC is VERY, VERY disappointing. The last update was DECEMBER!! slackers.

  • CrunchinJelly #5 6 years ago

    I played Halo 2 on my 360 last night and I was shocked.

    Yes, it's still a great game, but after playing excessive (obsessive?) amounts of PDZ I found myself hankering for cover and the option to roll -- not to jump.

    I for one will be interested to see if Bungie put either of these features into Halo 3.

  • urban #6 6 years ago

    gee...could that be because theres no good games out on 360 yet..

  • Furbs #7 6 years ago

    I doubt it.

  • lambtron #8 6 years ago

    Its hardly surprising, despite a very odd matchmaking system and the worst UI design decision in the history of games (no confirmation of whether you want to sign out when there are multiple players on the same box) Halo 2 online is generally very very good. In terms of stability and performance at high latencies it should be a benchmark for other Live games. I once played it on a 3G connection at a ping of about 3 or 400 and the lag was tolerable.

  • myiagros #9 6 years ago

    "But EA didn't make NBA 2K6..."

    your damn right, perhaps they ment NBA Live 2006

  • InfiniteFury #10 6 years ago

    Edit: @Lambtron

    They implemented excellent netcode to disguise the fact that you were shooting your enemies somewhat old shadow.
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/06 @ 11:08

  • Moogrose #11 6 years ago

    Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved - the first Xbox Live Arcade title to enter the most-played list.


    Er - Marble blast Ultra was in last weeks top 10 list...

    Fact checking eurogamer... fact checking

    Clicky
    Edited by 2 at 21/02/06 @ 11:11

  • myiagros #12 6 years ago

    "Note that this statistic includes time spent connected to Xbox Live playing various games, whether the playtime is spent in single- or multi-player mode."

    i guess this means that Halo 2 is actualy the most played game on XBox 360, not just playing multiplayer through xbox Live.

    isn't the 360 always connected to Live??

    quote - from Moogrose's link
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/06 @ 11:16

  • peterfll #13 6 years ago

    "gee...could that be because theres no good games out on 360 yet.. "

    Nope, there's lots of not just good but fecking great games for the 360. Perhaps you should try playing some of them?

  • Stormflood_UK #14 6 years ago

    I still play Halo 2 every night. The BC on 360 is crap though, so I use my 480p Xbox - no slow-down or after-images from Backwash, and the voice quality is 500% better.

    Of course, the downside with such popularity is the shear number of cheaters using up those damn 2 month trials. I'd say more than 3 out of 10 of games have cheaters these days.

    Matchmaking is a savior to me. Why people moan about it I really don't know or understand. I'm all ears.

    I also love the fact that it really looks like your mates are there with you on these maps. I can't explain why, but in other games they look just like silly computer characters sliding around on invisible roller-skates. In Halo 2 everything looks, 'feels' and sounds real - like you're actually there.

    I can't wait for Halo 3... and I hated Halo 1!

  • manuel_garcia #15 6 years ago

    "worst UI design decision in the history of games (no confirmation of whether you want to sign out when there are multiple players on the same box)"

    Er... never had an issue with that and regularly play online with mates on the same box as me, just head back to the menu, sign out... whats the problem?

  • king_skins #16 6 years ago

    Stormflood_UK: Matchmaking is a savior to me. Why people moan about it I really don't know or understand. I'm all ears.

    It is quite odd it you are used to the lobby system of most other games, I found it very odd when I first started using it. But then I suppose it does make it less intimidating for new users.

    The one problem that I find with it is that as you are not part of someone's game and you are just a collection of random people throw together it [seam to] leads to people being quite abusive to other gamers as they don't have to be nice to try and stay in the lobby and not get kicked by the host.
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/06 @ 13:29

  • lambtron #17 6 years ago

    @manuel

    If someone accidentally presses back on one of the earliest screens in the online flow (I forget which) then they are signed out without any warning, everyone has to go back to allow them to rejoin. Given that signing in / out takes a while this is a monumental pain in the arse and seemed to happen constantly when we first started playing the game. Not really a serious thing just bloody annoying.

  • Stormflood_UK #18 6 years ago

    King_skins -

    It seems the same 'fors' are another mans 'against' with matchmaking. The fact that me and my party get thrown into random maps against random teams without worrying about lag issues is the reason we love it. Sure, idiots exist, but we beat them if possible (unless they cheat).

    Also, and correct me if I'm wrong, but Halo 2 has custom/arranged matches for those who prefer to only play with people they know/prefer with the ability to boot. I've never really used it in the +12 months I've owned the game, so maybe I'm wrong.

  • GordonJ@work #19 6 years ago

    Er - Marble blast Ultra was in last weeks top 10 list...

    What has Marble Blast Ultra being in the top ten last week got to do with Geometry Wars being the first XBLA game to make the top ten?

    edit: so then I go back over previous weeks and see that GW isn't listed anywhere before this week and decide to keep my mouth shut instead :)
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/06 @ 16:07

  • kingkatt #20 6 years ago

    The headline and most of the article are actually pretty misleading. Halo 2 isn't the most popular Xbox Live game on Xbox 360; it's the most popular game on Xbox Live counting all the games played on both systems.

    The list on Major Nelson is the most popular games across the entire Live service - Xbox and Xbox 360. So really it's no surprise that Halo 2 tops the list. It's a great game online and more people own and play it than own 360s (so far).

  • Helios #21 6 years ago

    I thought Halo 2 online was boring :p Just seemed to be "Guy who opens fire first, wins" kind of gameplay. Could have done with out the pointless duel wielding tbh.

  • Triggerhappytel #22 6 years ago

    No surprises there really.

    I wonder what's the most played online game on the PS2?