Halo 2 maps delayed in US

European fans of million-billion-selling Xbox shooter Halo 2 have been left feeling shocked, stunned, confused and all funny inside following Bungie's confirmation that the Multiplayer Map Pack has been delayed by a week in the US. Probably.

The next batch of downloadable maps was due to be made available on June 28, the same day that a boxed version containing all nine maps would go on sale in shops. However, the date has now been put back to July 5.

"The main reason for us holding the downloadable version for that extra week is so that we can match up all the iterations of autoupdate, matchmaking playlist changes and so on," Bungie revealed in a statement on its website.

"The reason the retail pack slipped was that we found a problem during the final test pass. The maps themselves are done, so we're now in the land of retail shipping, matchmaking tuning and so on. Sorry to keep dragging it out."

There's still no word as to when we can expect the map pack to arrive in Europe - it's currently slated to launch on July 1, but a later release date will no doubt be announced shortly. Cheapskates won't care much anyhow, since Bungie has previously stated that all the new maps will be free to download by the end of the summer.

That'll be your lot though, according to Bungie - in an interview posted on its website, a representative says: "As for new maps, we are far too busy with our current project to even think about making any other maps."

They're not saying what that "current project" actually is, of course - our money's on Halo 3, but we'll keep you posted.