[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Halo 2 Leak, Microsoft has statement

Ironically, almost a year after a malicious hacker invaded Valve's network, stole Half-Life 2 source code, and leaked it on the net, hackers are at it again.

Last night the full version of Bungie's sci-fi first-person shooter Halo 2 was leaked and is available on various peer-to-peer (bittorrent) networks, Usenet groups or ftp sites.

The warezed Halo 2 game is a PAL version, with French speech and English subtitles, so it would be rather safe to assume that it originates from Europe.

The download weighs in at a whopping 3 gigs, but the size doesn't seem to be a deterrent, as a brief check of one known bittorrent stream showed that it was already being downloaded by 25,000 people.

Microsoft is already aware of this situation and is downplaying its significance by saying that even though it is the final version, the leaked Halo 2 will not allow people to access Xbox Live.

Here is the Microsoft official comment :