Halo 2 maps delayed in US

By Ellie Gibson Published 25 May, 2005

No word on European date.

European fans of million-billion-selling Xbox shooter Halo 2 have been left feeling shocked, stunned, confused and all funny inside following Bungie's confirmation that the Multiplayer Map Pack has been delayed by a week in the US. Probably.

The next batch of downloadable maps was due to be made available on June 28, the same day that a boxed version containing all nine maps would go on sale in shops. However, the date has now been put back to July 5.

"The main reason for us holding the downloadable version for that extra week is so that we can match up all the iterations of autoupdate, matchmaking playlist changes and so on," Bungie revealed in a statement on its website.

"The reason the retail pack slipped was that we found a problem during the final test pass. The maps themselves are done, so we're now in the land of retail shipping, matchmaking tuning and so on. Sorry to keep dragging it out."

There's still no word as to when we can expect the map pack to arrive in Europe - it's currently slated to launch on July 1, but a later release date will no doubt be announced shortly. Cheapskates won't care much anyhow, since Bungie has previously stated that all the new maps will be free to download by the end of the summer.

That'll be your lot though, according to Bungie - in an interview posted on its website, a representative says: "As for new maps, we are far too busy with our current project to even think about making any other maps."

They're not saying what that "current project" actually is, of course - our money's on Halo 3, but we'll keep you posted.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 7 years ago

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

  • mcmonkeyplc #1 7 years ago

    Meh!....
    Oh wait its Halo 2!

    Yeah thats right work hard on that current project! Its probably really tough having your release date set by a competitor :p

    Edit: wrong word
    Edited by 1 at 25/05/05 @ 13:17

  • Carpathian #2 7 years ago

    Am I the only person who keeps wondering why they don't open up map-making with some kind of PC-end design tool that uploads to Bungies servers to share out etc ??

    Effort on Bungies part to make new maps = zero
    Open-ended lifespan for crazy maps-a-plenty = costless.

    I know bringing the PC into the equation would be a little odd as it's an Xbox title but I often wonder if this isn't a good idea to keep the interest up, at least for a while ?

  • Teeth #3 7 years ago

    If my flatmate is anything to go by, interest is far from dwindling. At this rate he'll be playing it until he dies. Which, at this rate, might potentially be quite soon.

  • Derblington #4 7 years ago

    "Yeah thats right work hard on that current project! Its probably really tough having your release date set by a competitor :p "

    What?

  • ruttyboy #5 7 years ago

    He's referring to Bill Gates' statement that Halo 3 would launch on the same day as PS3. So whenever Sony decide to release the PS3 is when Bungie have to release Halo 3 for.

  • Feanor #6 7 years ago

    "He's referring to Bill Gates' statement that Halo 3 would
    launch on the same day as PS3."

    Hehe, Halo 3 will probably be ready by the *European* launch of the PS3.

  • mcmonkeyplc #7 7 years ago

    "Hehe, Halo 3 will probably be ready by the *European* launch
    of the PS3."

    In that case they probably have more time than they had whilst developing halo 2 :)

    They did produce Halo CE in about 8 months though remember. Although work had been done on it prior to that on the mac.

  • Derblington #8 7 years ago

    That's what I thought he meant, but it's not strictly true is it. They won't rush development on it just to be out on the same day.

  • ruttyboy #9 7 years ago

    Why not if that's what the boss man wants? It's typical behaviour for large companies, to allow the idiocy of the completely isolated and uninformed 'top brass' make decisions that all the peons working for them have to make happen.

  • Baronen #10 7 years ago

    I reckon I'll be able to hold out until Xbox 360 with this batch of maps, thanks. And as for the delay, it isn't like a month or so, so no need to worry.

  • MARKIV #11 7 years ago

    I can't believe Bungie won't produce any more maps for Halo2. There's 18 million Xbox 1's out there of which I bet half were sold at a loss of $149 ( £99 ). So why do Bungie think they'll make a mint out of Halo 3 on the Xox 1.5 ( aka 360 ). The stick of Microsoft obviously is firmly inside Bungie. Alas it seems it will be Halo 4, that makes the money for Bungie when the 360 is down to $149.

  • max #12 7 years ago

    Having played the new maps extensively at a post-E3 party, I can confirm that they are excellent. I haven't played H2 in a while, but they really rekindled my interest in it. They are very well balanced, and pretty too.

    Max