[Update] Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes has told IGN that he in fact did not confirm the existence of Halo 2 Anniversary, and was instead misinterpreted.
What I said was: 'I think you're ahead of yourself on H5. I have read some things on line that you can look forward to a H2 anniversary edition maybe this year, but I have no official information one way or the other.' I was just mentioning some of the things I had read online about Halo 2. I have no idea if there will be an anniversary edition and didn't mean to leave that impression.
Could Downes just be trying to cover his butt? It's certainly possible, but to be safe, we'll have to push Halo 2 Anniversary back into the rumor bin for the time being.
[Original] Steve Downes, the iconic voice behind Spartan 117 (better known as Master Chief) has revealed that Halo 2 Anniversary will be launching on Xbox later this year, with Halo 5 set to release sometime in 2015.
"I think you may be ahead of yourself on Halo 5," Downes told GameZone. "I wouldn’t expect anything until 2015. What you can look forward to this year is an anniversary edition of Halo 2." No word on whether 343i is developing or if Certain Affinity will be handling the remaster, but something tells me the A-team currently has its hands full with Halo 5 right now.
Rumors surfaced a few weeks back regarding a remake of Halo 2 in time for the game's tenth anniversary, and today's comment from Downes basically confirms it. Plus, this will buy 343 Industries a bit more time to make Halo 5 the grand new installment gamers are expecting. After all, let's not forget that Halo 4 launched a little over a year ago, so a fall 2014 launch seems a bit premature.