After a three-year wait and several months of delays, the mad rush to download Unreal Tournament 2003's 142 MB demo in September 2002 slowed internet speeds worldwide by almost half. The game set a record for the number of downloads (1.2 million) when the demo was released.
Epic Games have since disregarded Unreal Tournament 2003, treating it as being no more than a first draft to Unreal Tournament 2004, as well as refusing to make the game available on any online distribution website, including Steam and GoG.