Microsoft Corp., world's largest software maker, faced an unexpected situation when it was brought to the company's knowledge that various newsgroups and websites were hosting a leaked version of its upcoming Xbox game - Halo 2.

Halo 2 is a sequel to original Halo, which was a huge hit among Xbox as well as PC gamers.

The software giant said that it is rigorously investigating the leak and has warned users to disregard the leaked version or else they will be faced with a ban from Microsoft's Xbox Online feature. The company said that users who are using and distributing the leaked version of the game will be considered as thieves. "Microsoft takes the integrity of its intellectual property extremely seriously and we are aggressively pursuing the source of this illegal act."

Microsoft reported that the leak will not have an effect on the launch date, which comes as a good news for gamers who are looking forward to playing the next version of Halo.