Halo 2 PC Servers to Be Shut Down This February

82
Richard Walker

Halo 2's PC servers are set to close down next month, presumably due to a lack of activity. Apparently, the multiplayer servers currently peak at around 20 players or less. That's according to a statement issued over on Halo Waypoint.

"To switch gears ever so slightly, we're sad to report that the service end-date for Halo 2 PC Multiplayer will be February 15, 2013," reads the statement. "We've been monitoring the population for months, and it's been peaking consistently at approximately 20 players or less. Those that own this game can continue to enjoy Multiplayer over LAN after that date; however our network services will be turned off at that time.

"We love you, Halo 2 PC, and you will live forever in our hearts."

As the statement notes, you will be able to play Halo 2 multiplayer matches via LAN, but from February 15th, 2013, you won't be able to play online via the servers. Boo.

Still, there's always the promise of the rumoured Halo 2: Anniversary.

[Via Digital Spy | Thanks, Andy]

Comments
82
  • didn't even know they still ran these servers.... good on those guys for keeping them up for so long. LEARN FROM THESE PEOPLE EA!!!!
  • Halo 2 had the best online, ever.
  • I will miss it, this game consoled me while I waited for new Xboxes for both of my RRoDs.
  • Sad face
  • This is outrage there is still alot of people playing this game Damn you Activision
  • The Halo 2 multiplayer will always be remembered for introducing teabagging. Even the box art demonstrates that
  • Sad stuff, but hopefully 343 will make Halo 2 Anni a reality. There's certainly the clamouring fanbase to justify it, not to mention having the framework already laid out for them. Potentially a release game for the new xbox?
  • Time to protest to keep these servers up!
  • #7: That would be great! They would certainly have a customer in me if they chose to release a "Halo 2 HD" along he lines of Halo: CE Anniversary. It's been a long time since I have played Halo 2, but I have nothing but fond memories of it. Halo 2 has perhaps the best single player campaign of the entire lot. Here's hoping they don't shut down the Halo Wars servers soon, because I am looking to start playing that one in the coming months.
  • I miss and will never forget the days of Halo 2. It was the first, and best game I played online back on the first Xbox; to date. Even if they remake Halo 2 in HD, it won't be the same. RIP Halo 2.
  • First step to becoming EA.
  • @5 - 20 people is a lot? And what the hell does Activision have to do with this?
  • I understand why they want shut it down now because less numbers of players over Halo 2 online of course. Plus Halo 5 for next Xbox is coming soon that's our bet, maybe they bring Halo 2 HD Anniversary for Xbox 360 and maybe PC and Halo 3, ODST, Reach and Halo 4 is still online around. So it is too much Halo servers now. So make sense to shut down PC servers for Halo 2. I knew less players numbers is main reason. But there plenty Halo games out there for online still opens for Halo fans.
  • Noooooooooo! Better make the most of it.
  • @11 - So any developer that closes servers after 6 years is considered being an EA? What would you consider a good amount of time for servers to be open, despite only 20 people playing your game? 10, 12, 15 years?
  • @11 EA shut down game servers within 12 months when there are still 1000s of active players. Shutting down a server with a peak population of 20 people is totally reasonable, especially since its been in service for 6 years and the new generation of Halo games is on the horizon. Couldn't be further away from EA.
  • Ppl better hurry up and get those mp cheevos....
  • Would be nice when EA also left their servers running until they are down to 20 people playing the game.
  • I agree with you, cheevo360. The game has been out for 6 years and there's only 20 people playing in a world of 7 billion people. You guys had plenty of time to get the multiplayer achievements if you chose to do so. All these people protesting and calling them EA is just immature. If you ran a company where only 20 people visited your website or store or only had 20 clients when you used to have thousands or whatever company you ran, you'd shut down too. It's not cost effective to stay open. Yeah, I hate when EA shuts down servers, but if I want the online achievements, I work to get them when there are people online playing, not two weeks before they shut down and I have to scrounge and hopefully get a match. If not, oh-the-fuck-well. You can't expect them to stay open forever just in the off-chance someone 5 years from now decides to see if they can play online. It just isn't logical.
  • @#6 actually you could thank counter-strike for tea bagging,although another game before that probably introduced that "feature".
  • Does anyone know if being reduced to just playing LAN will limit/remove the ability to earn multiplayer achievements?
  • @21 agreed anyone know this? If not I'm gonna start playing this again!
  • I am a little surprised there was no Halo 2 HD remake out this year to fill the void before next gen hits.
  • I am saddened by this. I wasnt a complete regular user of the game, but I did dabble in it about one night per week. It was still a lot of fun, and I have to say there was surely more than 20 people on most of the time. Maybe closer to 50. There was usually several full 8-16 player games. And a bunch of games with a few people. Halo 2 Anniversary will not be the same. The multiplayer is the best part and will be missed. Especially if they slap some kind of Halo Reach multiplayer garbage multiplayer in there. Just boost the graphics 343, nothing else. Leave greatness alone.
  • They should make it like Halo CE.
  • So I sent the story in last night and I thought to myself I really need to get this finished.
  • I just got Halo 2 today as its the only Halo game I havent played. Although I did get it for the campaign, was still looking at a few MP games.
  • Quite impressive for a game that excluded XP owners.
  • It lasted a decent time, at least. With only twenty people playing, one could only expect this to happen. Not so crazy on the idea of an 'Anniversary Edition' of the game. I loved it and everything, but does it really warrant it? Halo:CE essentially kickstarted a generation of new shooters, so did, Halo 2 was...well, just a sequel to that game. A damn good sequel, mind, but it was still just a sequel. I suppose looking at it as a kickstarter for Xbox Live might work, but... meh. That's a tough call.
  • its cool, they have been open for a long time and they cant do it forever at least they have kept them open this long
  • @19 You need to learn to read better. The population peaked at 20. That doesn't mean there were only 20 people that ever played it, that's just the number that played it at one time. There's games you can still play online doing far worse. On another note, I've yet to figure out exactly why they're discontinuing service. Games are either run on community hosted dedicated servers or on peer machines. The only thing 343 servers would be used for is matchmaking, and why aren't they just using the typical Live servers for that (which I don't see them paying much for as they're MS owned)? It just seems to me like they're kicking themselves in the balls here with some bad press...
  • @31 You need to learn to read better. He clearly stated that there were multiple 16 and 8 player servers, as well as some others with a couple in them. This is more than 20. Which one of them is lying? Who knows, really.
  • playing halo2 on xbox was my best online experience of all time. it's sad that the pc is finally pushing it out. i wish we were still in those days. hell, does anyone remember when map pack dlc was FREE
  • so pc gamers now have no halo online at all since they never bothered to release 3, this is bad news still i may be doing all online achievements beforr closure if i get round to it :D
  • @34 No PC still has Halo 1 online which was something not even Xbox got. The Gearbox developed PC port of Halo 1 actually still has many players on it as well. My issue with this though is that how is it possible to shut down servers for a PC game? The thing about PC games is that servers can be hosted by the community and not the devs themselves. So it doesn't make any sense they would design it this way and force people to not play the MP anymore when they could have designed the game to use community servers.
  • Will this cut the achievements off too? Because you have to sign in to get achievements on single player and I haven't got the achievements for it yet.
  • @31 - I know what I fucking said and read. Excuse the fuck out of me for not putting in the words "at one time" in my sentence. I thought that we'd all be intelligent enough in here to make that assumption, but I guess I was wrong in your case. Ass.
  • @35 - I thought they closed the actual Halo: CE servers last year and you can only play using custom servers or whatever they're called. I would gather that this is what Halo 2 PC will be as well.
  • They peaked at 20 players or less.. I have been meaning to pick this game up for SO long (especially when I was planning on running through all Halos before Halo 4 but just ended up playing the Xbox version of 2) .. At least the game will still be run through GFWL I assume so I can still pick it up and just not get the multiplayer achievements unless you can do them through LAN, I bet some sort of XBC related trick can be applied to this game.
  • I understand the reasons for shutting-down the online servers... but they are just about 5 months away from the anniversary of the U.S. release date of the game... why not keep them up until May 31st? Feb 15th is less than a month away, and doesn't leave much time for people who haven't finished the game (or started it, for that matter)! I am just completing a new computer system build, and one of the first games I wanted to pick-up was Halo 2. I have mixed feelings about getting it, now... I just hope that the "Halo 2 Anniversary" for Xbox 360 rumors are true!!
  • Meanwhile, Halo 1's servers are still going strong, maybe cause its FREE TO PLAY!
  • its official that i will never get to enjoy halo 2 multiplayer now :(
  • 37: You mad bro? Cool your jets.
  • 42: Halo 2 is also free to play, you just have to use the stupid LIVE service (with a Silver account, mind you). The thing that butchered Halo 2 is the fact that the game doesn't really install soundly on ANY system. I had to work for the better part of a day a half just to get it to boot up and not crash consistently on my system, and it still doesn't even perform well.
  • Sad face :( Im going to have to make the most out of the last few days.
  • You know guys, this may be Microsoft secretly hinting at making room for Halo 2 Anniversary servers! Just my thought.
  • wait WHAT??? i guess i better start playing it then... this sucks tho.. this was the only way to play halo 2 online
  • The end of an era.
  • LOL people saying "Noooooo! How could they?!?!?!" probably haven't played this game in five years, like most humans.
  • @45 running in on Win7 and NEVER had any issues with it.
  • I still play it on the PC... But I just picked up a new unopened copy from Craigslist for $2 -- and the achievements count towards my gamerscore :)
  • If anyone wants to mop up some online achieves add me, maybe we can work something out before servers shut down.
  • I'm so glad I got all the achievements for Halo 2 (PC) last year, super glad lol.
  • So many fond memories of this game. I recently bought it from a store for the original Xbox, and had so much fun playing it. And @54 I'm having trouble with the King of the Scarab achievement. Do you know where it is?
  • Anybody want to pick up on the some multiplayer 'chievos? I just picked up Halo 2 pc back in May, and haven't really played much multiplayer because my pc sucks.
  • @56 I've had Halo 2 for years but only started playing it at last a few months a go. Still need all the MP cheevos so I'll gladly do them with you if you're up for it! Hopefully we won't need to get all the single player cheevos by the 15th.
  • What about halo 1 on pc, is the servers still on
  • Oh my God who the hell cares?
  • Just ran through multiplayer and mopped up the rest of them :D *Phew*
  • Best game for xbox period.
  • ths sucks now i need a new computer
  • No longer played this game online on the pc but still marks a sad day :(.
  • gayest news...ever
  • Back in the day, all you needed was Halo 2 and lockout. What a fantastic multiplayer map.
  • Not a bad thing, No one really played official servers anymore. Most people ended up play on private ones run by MonstrMoose and others because they would have more people in them
  • So that means that after 15th of feb I will no longer be able to get multiplayer achievements? Damn.
  • So that means that after 15th of feb I will no longer be able to get multiplayer achievements? Damn.
  • Have not done many of the MP chevos my self... send me a friend request with when you would play H2
  • Took them long enough. People still play this crap?
  • That's sad. Can the achievements be earned over LAN?
  • GT; BurntToast1971 Message me with friend request along with day and time you would like to play halo prior to the servers shutting down to mop up the MP chevos.
  • Add me for last minute achievement hunting! Gt: Taylor McGrath
  • This upsets me, more than a little!
  • Ramdom CoD hate comment !!!
  • GT: Leewom if i'm around i'll jump in for a game be cool to mop up the MP acheevos
  • GT: Classy Moth Let's Finish Those Achievements
  • Got a few tonight... woo hoo still looking for a few more... willing to help others out as well
  • Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! I finally unlocked Silent Cartographer and Rainman. My PC kept demanding the original disc and I could not find it. Had to pick another up off ebay get it done. Wonder if they will stop the servers on HALO WARS OR HALO 3 too?
  • it's a lie that there are a max 20 players. I was on the other night and there were 80 or so.
  • http://www.ebay.com/itm/321069914058?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Anyone need it for this homestretch?
  • Getting this done today. Message me on Live. Let's do this. Gamertag: Twincats
  • What the hell's the point in jerking my chain with rumors of a Halo 2 Anniversary Edition? The last anniversary edition didn't come out on PC, so why's it being mentioned on an announcement about a PC game? Is this supposed to be comforting? If there was any hope that the next anniversary edition game would be seeing a PC release, I'd understand. But right now, it's misleading and adding insult to injury.
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