Microsoft heeft bekend gemaakt dat de pre-orders van Halo 2 inmiddels de 1,5 miljoen, in alleen de Verenigde Staten, gepa eerd zijn. Hiermee zal Halo 2 op de eerste dag meer opleveren dan welke film ooit. In Amerika zullen op 9 november 6500 winkels om middernacht opengaan, waarbij de allereerste versie in de Toys 'R' Us winkel op Times Square in New York over de toonbank zal gaan. Het eerste deel is inmiddels meer dan 5 miljoen keer over de toonbank gegaan.Additionally, 1,125 further retailers worldwide are planning celebration events for the launch of the game - which will take place between November 9th and November 11th in every Xbox territory, covering 27 countries with seven different language versions.

Anticipation for the sequel to the biggest-selling Xbox game ever doesn't appear to have been dulled by the release of a pirate version onto the Internet last week - a move which has mainly been greeted with outrage by fans of the game.

"Halo 2 is expected to be the biggest 24 hours for a video game title in retail history,"