2004 (real world)

2004 is the year Halo 2 was released.

Unknown

 * Bungie officially confirms the development of the Halo film.

January

 * January: Microsoft conducts an internal Alpha test of Halo 2 ' s multiplayer to test the performance of the network architecture over Xbox LIVE.

March

 * March 15: Halo Custom Edition is released.

April

 * April 27: Microsoft purchases the domain names "halo2.com" and "halo3.com". "halo3.com" was initially held under the name "Trout & Zimmer" until switching over to Microsoft Corporation after Halo 3's formal announcement.

May

 * May 10–13: A multiplayer demo is showcased at E3 2004.
 * May 11: halo2.com goes live.

October

 * October: The Halo 2 theatrical trailer is released.
 * October 15: halo2.com is relaunched with a Covenant theme by AKQA.

November

 * November 9:
 * Halo 2 was released in the US and Canada.
 * The Art of Halo was released.
 * Halo 2: The Official Strategy Guide was released.
 * November 11: Halo 2 is released in Europe.
 * November 17: Halo 2 Auto-Update 1 is released.