Original Halo 2 Still Being Played Online

Halo 2 may be more than 20 years old, but its online multiplayer mode is still drawing players today. The Halo series did not invent the online FPS genre, but it has been a fan favorite for decades. The Bungie-era games, in particular, have developed a devoted fanbase, so much so that the original Halo 2, not just the Anniversary Edition, still has an active multiplayer scene.

Microsoft has long since shut down the original version of Xbox Live, but fans have resurrected Halo 2‘s multiplayer through a project called Insignia. The fan-run servers let anyone with an OG Xbox play select titles online again, with Halo 2 leading the charge. While it may still be a relatively small undertaking, it’s already succeeded in keeping Bungie’s 2004 shooter alive.

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Insignia ran a special event on Saturday, March 15, to celebrate its one-year anniversary of bringing Halo 2 multiplayer back to life. As Redditor ImPunny88 pointed out the next day, Insignia drew a peak player count of 148 people during the marathon. Just shy of 150 players may not sound like much by today’s standards, but considering that it’s a 20-year-old game on a fan-run platform, it’s an impressive figure. If nothing else, it’s a testament to the enduring popularity of the first Halo game to introduce online multiplayer, which some claim is still one of the franchise’s best entries to date.

Halo 2 Draws 148 Online Players Two Decades After Its Release

When Microsoft shut down Xbox Live for the original Xbox in 2010, Halo 2 players set a record for continuing to play on those servers for three and a half weeks after the scheduled shutdown date. That record stood for 14 years until Nintendo fans broke it by playing Wii U and 3DS servers after their disconnection date. While Halo 2 may not hold that title anymore, setting it in the first place was apparently a sign of things to come. The game’s original online service is long dead, but it’s 2025 and fans are still finding ways to play it.

The success of Insignia’s Halo 2 servers is good news for fans of the game, too. Microsoft stopped making new content for the Master Chief Collection in 2024, leaving Halo 2: Anniversary without ongoing development, so it’s nice that there’s still a community out there keeping the original going. The game itself may not be getting any updates, but its multiplayer servers are still going strong, thanks to Insignia. Fans hoping for more official content can play some Halo 2 maps in Halo Infinite, too, but as Insignia’s recent event for the game shows, for some, there’s no beating the original.

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September 4, 2004

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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Violence