Xbox Addict

Halo 2 Anniversary coming, Halo 5 likely delayed until 2015

A Halo 2 anniversary edition will release this year to coincide with the game’s tenth anniversary, according to Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes, who added that Halo 5 won’t launch until 2015.

"I think you may be ahead of yourself on Halo 5," Downes told GameZone, who was unable to share the games’ developers or expected platforms. "I wouldn’t expect anything until 2015. What you can look forward to this year is an anniversary edition of Halo 2."

Microsoft teased the next-gen installment of the Halo franchise during its E3 2103 press conference. Bonnie Ross, general manager of 343 Industries, announced that the title features a 60fps frame rate and takes advantage of Microsoft’s cloud computing tech. The game was announced for an Xbox One release in 2014 with Microsoft Game Studios’ corporate vice president Phil Spencer saying that it is a "legitimate version of Halo."

It was also revealed at the time that Halo’s Reclaimer Trilogy, beginning with 343 Industries’ Halo 4 and extending to future 5 and 6 entries, had been expanded to "more of a saga."

The Bungie Studios-developed Halo 2 was released for the original Xbox on Nov. 9, 2004 and became the best-selling first-generation Xbox title. It was followed by a Windows PC version in 2007, developed by Microsoft Game Studios. Halo 2’s Windows PC multiplayer support was extended until mid-2013, after it was initially going to be killed Feb. 15. The multiplayer servers for Halo 2 on Xbox were shut down in April 2010.

We have reached out to Microsoft for more information and will update this article accordingly.

Update: "We can confirm your next Halo journey will begin in 2014, but beyond that we don’t have any details to share at this time," a Microsoft spokesperson told Polygon.