Halo (series)

The Halo series is a sci-fi video game franchise set 500 years in the future. The overall theme of the series revolves around a group of colossal ring-shaped super weapons known as Halos spread throughout the galaxy.

The main games' protagonists are the Master Chief and his AI companion, Cortana, whose main objective is to defend humanity and Earth against the Covenant, a theocratic alliance of alien races who are on a quest to activate a Halo that will annihilate all living things in the galaxy and send them on their "Great Journey." Other antagonists include the Flood, the Prometheans, the Created, and the Banished.

The series was created by Bungie in the late 1990s and is owned by Microsoft Studios. In the year 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie and made Halo: Combat Evolved the original Xbox's launch title. After Bungie became an independent company again in 2007, they made two more Halo games for Microsoft and then handed over the series for 343 Industries to maintain.

Mainline games featuring the Master Chief and Cortana are Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo Infinite.

Spinoff games include Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, Halo Wars, Halo Wars 2, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo: Spartan Strike, and Halo: Fireteam Raven.

Releases[]

Mainline number entries in bold

Game	Release date	Platforms	Notes
Halo: Combat Evolved	November 15, 2001	Xbox Windows XP Mac OS X Xbox One* Windows 7+* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Anniversary edition through Halo: The Master Chief Collection*	Released on the original Xbox. Ported to Mac OS X and Windows XP on September 30, 2003. A remastered 'anniversary' edition was created in 2011 utilizing Halo: Reach's engine and graphics. The anniversary edition was included in 2014's Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Halo 2	November 9, 2004	Xbox Windows Vista Xbox One* Windows 7+* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Anniversary edition through Halo: The Master Chief Collection*	Released on the original Xbox. Game events take place after the first game. Broke sales records for US$125 million on first day. Ported to Windows Vista on May 29, 2007. An anniversary edition was included in 2014's Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Halo History Pack	September 13, 2007	Xbox Xbox 360	This pack includes a platinum version of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and a preview of Halo 3. The pack is exclusive to Japan and the preview of Halo 3 can only be played on Japanese systems.
Halo 3	September 25, 2007	Xbox 360 Xbox One* Windows 7+* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Through Halo: The Master Chief Collection*	Released on the Xbox 360. Completed the story arc begun in the first game. Broke first day sales record set by Halo 2 with $170 million USD and $300 million in the first week.
Halo Wars	February 26, 2009	Xbox 360 Xbox One* Xbox Series X\|S* Windows 10* Xbox Cloud Gaming* As Halo Wars: Definitive Edition*	Real-time strategy game released on the Xbox 360. First prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, taking place 20 years prior during the initial encounters with the Covenant. A remaster was released December 20, 2016 as Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
Halo 3: ODST	September 22, 2009	Xbox 360 Xbox One* Windows 7/8/10* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Through the Halo: Master Chief Collection*	Originally created to be an expansion for Halo 3, but became a stand-alone game. Takes place between Halo 2 and Halo 3. Does not feature the Master Chief as the main playable character, but five Orbital Drop Shock Troopers instead. Originally announced as Halo 3: Recon. Campaign on Disc 1, and all of Halo 3's Multiplayer on Disc 2 (see next row). Featured a new multiplayer mode, "Firefight." Added to Halo: The Master Chief Collection on May 30, 2015.
Halo 3: Mythic	September 22, 2009	Xbox 360	Included with Halo 3: ODST as a separate disc of Halo 3's multiplayer, Forge, the Theater, and every Halo 3 multiplayer map, including three new maps: Heretic, Citadel, and Longshore, along with their respective achievements. The disc menu has a different background than Halo 3, showing a lone Mark VI-clad Spartan on the map Citadel. The disc features an updated armor customization menu visual, showing the player's Spartan or Sangheili with updated lighting. The Spartan faceplate is also more golden. As of the January 2022 shutdown of the original Halo 3 Xbox 360 servers, all online functionality in Halo 3: Mythic is no longer accessible.
Halo 3 & Fable II Combo Pack	November 16, 2009	Xbox 360	Released in Europe in 2011
Halo 3: ODST & Forza Motorsport 3 Combo Pack	May 22, 2010	Xbox 360	Both games on their respective discs in a single Xbox 360 case Forza appeared on the front of the caseand ODST appeared on the back
Halo: Reach	September 14, 2010	Xbox 360 Xbox One* Windows 7/8/10* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Through the Halo: Master Chief Collection*	Second prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved. Last Halo game developed by Bungie. Added to Halo: The Master Chief Collection on December 3, 2019.
Halo: Reach & Fable III Double Pack	March 1, 2011	Xbox 360	Exclusive to PAL regions
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary	November 15, 2011	Xbox 360 Xbox One* Windows 7/8/10* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Through the Halo: Master Chief Collection*	High-definition remaster of Halo: Combat Evolved utilizing Halo: Reach's engine and graphics. Includes 7 multiplayer map remakes for Halo: Reach's multiplayer. Included in 2014's Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Halo 4: King of the Hill Fueled by Mountain Dew	October 31, 2012	Android iOS	A location-based augmented reality game. Players could defeat other players holding the hills at 7-Eleven stores, earning Halo 4 rewards. The app required the purchase of Halo 4-branded Mountain Dew bottles or Doritos packs to gain points and hold the hills.
Halo 4	November 6, 2012	Xbox 360 Xbox One* Windows 7/8/10* Xbox Cloud Gaming* Through the Halo: Master Chief Collection*	Fourth mainline entry in the Halo series. Sequel to Halo 3, taking place four and a half years after the game. Continues the story of Master Chief and Cortana. Released as the first in a new series of titles dubbed the "Reclaimer Trilogy." First original Halo game developed by 343 Industries, taking place of Bungie. Included in 2014's Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Halo: Origin Pack	June 6, 2013	Xbox 360	Includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 4, Xbox Live 3-month Gold Membership, and the Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Released exclusively in Japan
Halo: Spartan Assault	July 18, 2013	Windows 8 Windows Phone Xbox 360 Xbox One iOS Xbox Cloud Gaming	Mobile twin-stick shooter game. Originally exclusive to Windows 8 phones, tablets, and PCs. Later released on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Code-named Halo: Bootcamp prior to its announcement.
Halo Origins Bundle	November 22, 2013	Xbox 360	Includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo: Reach Known as the Halo Double Pack in PAL regions
Halo: The Master Chief Collection	November 11, 2014	Xbox One Windows 7/8/10	Compilation of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4, Halo: Reach, and their multiplayer modes, complete with their full set of add-on content. All games received graphical upgrades for the release, and Halo 2 received a Combat Evolved Anniversary-style high-definition remaster. The release shipped with access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta. Launched on December 3, 2019, for Windows.
Halo: Spartan Strike	April 16, 2015	Windows 8 Windows Phone iOS	Mobile twin-stick shooter game.
Halo 5: Guardians	October 27, 2015	Xbox One	Sequel to Halo 4. Fifth mainline entry in the Halo series. Introduces new multiplayer mode "Warzone."
Halo Wars 2	February 21, 2017	Windows 10 Xbox One	Sequel to 2009's Halo Wars. Announced at GamesCom 2015.
Halo Recruit	October 17, 2017	Windows 10 (Windows Mixed Reality	The game is ~5 minutes in length and provides an introduction to the series. Players are an UNSC recruit, who is put through a VR shooting simulation against the Covenant. Requires a Windows MR headset.
Halo: Fireteam Raven	July 2018	Arcade cabinet	Set in the timeframe of Halo: Combat Evolved. The game was initially released as an exclusive to Dave & Buster's in North America.
Halo Infinite	December 8, 2021	Windows 10 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S	Sequel to Halo 5: Guardians. Sixth mainline entry in the Halo series. Multiplayer was released separately as free-to-play.