Halo 2 PC Servers Going Dark

[Karloff]

Halo 2 PC Servers Going Dark

Dwindling population numbers have forced the closure of Halo 2's PC servers.

February 15th, 2013, will be the shut-off date for Halo 2 PC servers. Gamers who want their slice of Halo history will still be able to play LAN games, but online multiplayer will be no more.

"We've been monitoring the population for months," says Jessica Shea, "and it's peaking consistently at approximately 20 players or less." The servers just couldn't be justified for that low a population. "We love you, Halo 2 PC," Shea added, "and you will live forever in our hearts."

The announcement came as part of a longer Waypoint blog post, in which Shea teased, among other things, forthcoming Spartan Ops news and other good stuff. Those interested should check it out here. [http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/Headlines/post/2013/01/16/The-Halo-Bulletin-11613.aspx]

Halo 2, when in first released back in 2004, was Xbox Live's premier multiplayer game, and is widely credited with clearing the path for today's multiplayer shooter titles. The Xbox Live multiplayer servers were shut off some time ago [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100597-Halo-2-The-Last-Spartan-Falls]; this PC closure means you won't find a Halo 2 online match anywhere, any more.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-17-microsoft-will-switch-off-halo-2-pc-multiplayer-next-month]


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[Scars Unseen]

Not that I own this game(only have original, which was given to me by someone who had just bought Halo 2), but I think this does serve to highlight the importance of LAN support for multiplayer games. One year from now or a decade, it doesn't matter. If I want to grab Halo 2 and play some multiplayer with friends that wish to do the same, I'll be able to. Diablo 3? Mass Effect 3? Not so much.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

I guess no one can blame them for showing good will. I am still a bit sorry for those 20 gamers.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I still swear they made this game on PC just to sell Vista at the time...

 

[Metalrocks]

ah yes. how come im not surprised. using crappy LIVE is one of them, and for not releasing part 3 for pc. the MP was anyway too slow and boring.
im still pissed that they never released part 3 for the pc. the campaign was at least interesting and was a solid shooter as such, but no, they leave us pc gamers in the dark with the first 2 games. great, im so know whats happening with the trilogy.

 

[Squilookle]

Wait, Halo 2 came to the PC?

Who knew!?

 

[Treblaine]

"we're gonna shut them down and give no possibility of halo 2 servers continuing to be run by community enthusiasts"

 

[LetalisK]

Wow, only 20 people? And it took them this long to shut it down? I'm impressed.

 

[Meight08]

Well that sucks the PC versions of halo 1 and 2 are the only versions of halo that i actually found enjoyable.

 

[jackpipsam]

I always knew that Halo 2 had a low playerbase on PC (but I find 20 a bit too low to believe), but I didn't think they would pull the plug.

It always makes me sad when games go dark, even worse as this has achievements.

This along with the recent news of no more content for Flight and Age of Empires Online makes me think that Microsoft is thinking of moving fully to Windows 8 for their PC gaming.

I highly doubt they will pull the plug on GFWL, but I think this won't the last we hear of this.

 

[juyunseen]

As one of those 20 players, this severely dissapoints me.

Y u no let us run some servers for ourselves?!?

 

[Bindal]

Wait, Halo 2 came to the PC?

Who knew!?

Quite a lot, actually. Halo 1 and Halo 2 both came for PC, Halo 1 even had a real large amount of modding tools later on (called "Halo: Custom Edition"). And I think, Halo 1 PC is still going pretty strong.

 

[Irridium]

Well this is a shame. Makes you think as well, what happens to games now in 10 years? With more and more including online functions, what happens when those are shut off? Whatever "true" experience you want to provide using the internet will be lost forever.

Well that sucks the PC versions of halo 1 and 2 are the only versions of halo that i actually found enjoyable.

Halo 1 still has a decent population I believe.

A result of not being bound to Vista and letting the community run their own servers.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I still swear they made this game on PC just to sell Vista at the time...

That's exactly what they did, the XP incompatibility was literally a few lines of code to check if you were using XP, then prevent the game installing if you were. Removing them let the game work fine...

 

[Antari]

And this is why any game that doesn't allow the user to set up a server locally is an automatic DO NOT BUY for me. I will never pay a company to control my gaming.

 

[Simple Bluff]

Kinda bummed by this. Halo 2 was the most sophisticated game my laptop could run, so I played it a lot. Actually, now that I think about it, it was the first game I played on Xbox Live - met a lot of good online friends there, who went on to be my Halo 3 comrades when I eventually got an Xbox 360.
I've never gotten into an online game since - it's been years since I spoke to my comrades. But it's a little humbling to think that somewhere, those guys are hearing this news for the first time (hell, they could be some of the 20), and reminiscing fondly about me as I am about them.

I'm not really surprised though, this was inevitable. I only regret that my current laptop can't run Halo 2 so as to have one more bash with it before it goes...

 

[Treblaine]

I highly doubt they will pull the plug on GFWL, but I think this won't the last we hear of this.

Well, even the darkest cloud has a silver lining I suppose.

As long as they release a patch for every GFWL game removing that DRM requirement then it'll all be worth it. God damn dammit I hate having to deal with GFWL authentication ON TOP OF steam authentication.

 

[Meight08]

Well this is a shame. Makes you think as well, what happens to games now in 10 years? With more and more including online functions, what happens when those are shut off? Whatever "true" experience you want to provide using the internet will be lost forever.

Well that sucks the PC versions of halo 1 and 2 are the only versions of halo that i actually found enjoyable.

Halo 1 still has a decent population I believe.

A result of not being bound to Vista and letting the community run their own servers.

Really?! i really need to get a new copy now, my old one broke a long time ago.

 

[Rad Party God]

Hmmm... I wonder why *looks at the myrad of better shooters for the PC*.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Well this is a shame. Makes you think as well, what happens to games now in 10 years? With more and more including online functions, what happens when those are shut off? Whatever "true" experience you want to provide using the internet will be lost forever.

Well I thought it would be obvious. Publishers aren't making money off of old games so why support them at all? Cut the older games out of the picture and people will be forced to buy newer games. It wouldn't surprise me if this is what they have been aiming for for the last 5 or so years.