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http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=4922
Halo 2 leaked onto the Internet
Rob Fahey 10:12 14/10/2004
Bungie's new opus falls victim to net pirates as PAL version hits the warez
sites
Microsoft has launched an investigation into the leak of a version of
Bungie's forthcoming Xbox title Halo 2, which has made its way onto Internet
piracy sites and newsgroups almost a month before the title is due to
launch.
The pirate copy of the game, which is thought to have begun circulating last
night, claims to be a PAL version with French text, suggesting that it may
have been leaked during the localisation process for the hugely anticipated
game.
"Microsoft has learned that a version of Halo 2 has been posted to various
newsgroups and web sites," the company said in a statement this morning. "We
consider downloading this code or making it available for others to download
as theft."
"We are currently investigating the source of this leak with the appropriate
authorities," the statement continued. "Microsoft takes the integrity of its
intellectual property extremely seriously, and we are aggressively pursuing
the source of this illegal act."
However, perhaps mindful of the debacle last year where Valve appeared to
blame the leak of Half-Life 2 source code and materials onto the Internet
for a major delay to the game, Microsoft has also moved to reassure
customers that the game will still arrive on November 9th to 11th
worldwide - saying simply that "the launch of Halo 2 worldwide remains
unaffected."
While the leak of the game is certainly embarrassing for Microsoft, the huge
size of the file - almost three gigabytes - and the fact that it won't be
possible to play the pirate version on Xbox Live mean that it's unlikely to
seriously impact sales of Halo 2, which remains on track to become one of
the biggest-selling titles of the year.
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