Bungie Says Halo 2 For Xbox Will Not Ship This Year

No one in the video game business likes to announce ship dates. In the case of the highest profile titles, announcing a ship date almost always leads to delays. Today Bungie fell victim to this trend by announcing that Halo 2 for the Microsoft Xbox will not ship in 2003.

While Bungie never announced or committed to a firm ship date for Halo 2, they admit that "This game is a vast undertaking, considerably more complex than any of our previous efforts, and there is just no way to squeeze all of the necessary work into this calendar year. We know many of you were hoping to get your hands on Halo 2 during the holiday season, and we're sorry to disappoint you - but making this game as good as we possibly can is our paramount concern."

Bungie went on to say that "Microsoft understands and supports our decision, and we hope you will too." While many gamers were looking forward to getting their hands on the Xbox Live enabled Halo 2 this holiday season, they will have to put their plans on hold.

Most likely the best news is that Bungie still plans to give eager gamers a taste of Halo 2 at E3 in May. Still the port of the original Halo to the PC and Mac platforms appears to continue to be on track for a 2003 release with new features and content. This of course this exciting news for Halo fans who are waiting for the PC and Mac release.

While we too would like to get our hands on Halo 2 this year, Bungie does realize that this is a important sequel and they must do everything possible to get it right. Microsoft for sure wants Halo 2 to be one of it's show case titles for Xbox to help boost slumping sales, but it looks like they will have to count on other titles this holiday season.

E3 is going to be a very important time for the Xbox platform and its future. With rumors already making the rounds on the development of Xbox 2, it is certain that Microsoft will need some high profile titles to help keep gamers committed to the Xbox platform. Early indications are that Microsoft, as well as third party developers to have a significant amount of Xbox titles in the pipeline to be released this holiday season. Of course we will not have a better idea of when to expect these titles till we attend E3 in May.