| Halo | |
|---|---|
_logo.svg){kind=logo} Logo used sinceHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary | |
| Genres | |
| Developers |
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| Publisher | Xbox Game Studios |
| Platforms | |
| First release | Halo: Combat Evolved November 15, 2001 |
| Latest release | Halo Infinite December 8, 2021 |
Halo is amilitary science fictionvideo game series andmedia franchise, originally developed byBungie and currently managed and developed byHalo Studios (previously 343 Industries), part ofMicrosoft'sXbox Game Studios. The series launched in November 2001 with thefirst-person shooter video gameHalo: Combat Evolved and its tie-in novel,The Fall of Reach. The latest major installment,Halo Infinite, was released in 2021. Spinoffs includereal-time strategy andtwin-stick shooter games.
Bungie began as a developer of computer games for the Macintosh platform, making games includingMarathon 2: Durandal (1995). After the company was acquired by Microsoft in 2000, their in-progress game, which started life as areal-time strategy game, becameHalo: Combat Evolved, afirst-person shooter and exclusive launch title for Microsoft'sXbox video game console. Following the success ofHalo, Bungie developed additionalHalo sequels before and after regaining its independence from Microsoft in 2007. Microsoft established 343 Industries to overseeHalo going forward, producing games itself and in partnership with other studios. The developer was restructured and rebranded as Halo Studios in 2024, in conjunction with producing new games that would shift the series away from being developed on proprietary game technology, and towards being available on multiple platforms beyond Xbox and Windows going forward.
Halo: Combat Evolved was the Xbox's flagship "killer app" and cemented Microsoft as a major competitor in the video game console space, and its sequels pioneered online matchmaking, social features, and video game marketing. The games have sold more than 81 million copies worldwide. With more than $6 billion in franchise sales,Halo is one of thehighest-grossing media franchises of all time, spanning novels, graphic novels, comic books, short films, animated films, feature films, fan-made shortmachinima animations andother licensed products.
Millions of years ago, a powerfulinterstellar species known as the Precursors seeded the galaxy with life. One of their created races, known as the Forerunners, attacked their former masters and drove the Precursors into near extinction. A few Precursors turned into a dust, intending to regenerate themselves in the future. This dust became defective, infecting and contorting organisms into a new parasitic species, connected by a hivemind: theFlood. Spacefaring ancient humanity, fighting the Flood, also came into conflict with the Forerunners. After defeating humanity, the Forerunners reduced humanity's technology and species to a primitive level, while they concentrated on the threat of the Flood. The Forerunners conceived the Halo Array—ring-shaped megastructures and weapons of last resort that would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy to stop the Flood's spread. The array could be activated from the Ark, a repository of sentient life outside the range of the Halos. Exhausting all other options, the Array was activated, ending the Flood outbreak. The surviving Forerunners reseeded life and left the Milky Way galaxy.
Nearly a hundred thousand years later, in the 26th century, humanity—under the auspices of the Unified Earth Government, or UEG, and their United Nations Space Command, or UNSC—colonizes many worlds thanks to the development of faster-than-light "slipstream space" (i.e.,hyperspace) travel. Tensions between the government and colonies desiring independence sparks violence. The UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) creates the SPARTAN-II Project to create an elite group of enhancedsupersoldiers to suppress the rebellions. In the year 2525, human worlds come under attack by atheocratic alliance ofalien races known as theCovenant, whose leadership declares humanity an affront to their gods, the Forerunners. The Covenant begin a genocidal holy war. Their superior technology and numbers prove to be decisive advantages; although effective, the Spartans are too few to turn the tide of battle in humanity's favor. After the Covenant invaded Reach in 2552, the UNSC's last major stronghold besides Earth,Master Chief John-117 was left as one of the few remaining Spartans.
The rediscovery of the Halo rings prompts a desperate battle against the Covenant, who believe they are instruments of transcendence, not destruction. Master Chief and his artificial intelligenceCortana are instrumental in the destruction of a Halo ring to stop the Covenant and the threat of the Flood. Turmoil within the Covenant and the revelation of the Halo Array's true purpose leads to the Covenant splintering into civil war. The disgraced former Covenant commander known as theArbiter, along with many of his species, helps the humans stop the Covenant leadership from activating the Halo Array via the Ark. The Human-Covenant War ends.
In the post-war era, the UNSC trains a new generation of Spartans, and tensions between the UNSC and rebels resumes. The Master Chief and Cortana accidentally free the Forerunner commander Didact and he briefly returns to assert supremacy over humanity. Master Chief and Cortana halt his plans, although Cortana is initially believed dead in the attempt. Cortana's survival through the Domain leads her to break with the UNSC and assert a newhegemony over the galaxy, with artificial intelligence (the "Created") in control.[1] After two years of a scattered war between Cortana and the UNSC, Cortana attacks the Banished, a mercenary organization of former Covenant races. The Banished win the resultant conflict, terminating Cortana and battling the UNSC for control of Zeta Halo.[2]
| 2001 | Halo: Combat Evolved |
|---|---|
| 2002 | |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | Halo 2 |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 | Halo 3 |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | Halo Wars |
| Halo 3: ODST | |
| 2010 | Halo: Reach |
| 2011 | Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary |
| 2012 | Halo 4 |
| 2013 | Halo: Spartan Assault |
| 2014 | Halo: The Master Chief Collection |
| 2015 | Halo: Spartan Strike |
| Halo 5: Guardians | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | Halo Wars 2 |
| 2018 | Halo: Fireteam Raven |
| Halo Recruit | |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | |
| 2021 | Halo Infinite |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | |
| 2024 | |
| 2025 | |
| 2026 | Halo: Campaign Evolved |
Video game studioBungie was founded in 1991 byAlex Seropian in Chicago, Illinois, who partnered with programmerJason Jones the following year to market and release Jones' gameMinotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Focusing on theMac game market because it was smaller and easier to compete, Bungie became a preeminent game developer on the platform, releasing the successfulMyth andMarathon. Bungie began development on a new game in 1997, referring to it by the temporary code names "Monkey Nuts" and later "Blam!" after Jones could not bring himself to say the previous codename to his mother.[3][4]: ix "Blam!" was conceived as a science fictionreal-time strategy game and took place on a hollowed-out world called Solipsis. The planet eventually became aringworld called "Halo", in turn giving the game its title.[5]
As the development team began experimenting with incorporating vehicles with realistic physics simulations, they began moving the distant third-person camera closer to the action. Bungie decided it would be more fun to directly control units than direct them, and the game shifted to a third-person shooter.[5][6]Halo was announced on July 21, 1999, during theMacworld Conference & Expo. The title of the game was finalized only days before it was announced at Macworld.[6]
Bungie was undergoing financial difficulties, andMicrosoft was looking for games for its upcomingXbox video game console. In June 2000, Microsoft announced their acquisition of Bungie, andHalo—now having morphed into afirst-person shooter—became a launch title for the Xboxvideo game console.[5][6] Relocated from Chicago to Redmond, Washington, Bungie had roughly 14 months to finish the game before the Xbox launched. The story slowly began to take shape, with an internal debate at Bungie over how much personality to give the main character. WriterJoe Staten wanted to do more than have the player character be an "empty vessel" likeHalf-Life'sGordon Freeman, so they wrote him with a sense of humor. Deciding he should be referred to by his naval rank, Bungie decided on "Master Chief". Despite a difficult and hectic development schedule,Halo: Combat Evolved shipped as a launch title for the Xbox on November 15, 2001.[5][6][7]: 112–113 The Xbox's marketing heavily featuredHalo, whose green color palette meshed with the console's design scheme.[8]Halo was a critical and commercial success, selling alongside half of every Xbox sold.[9] By July 2006, the game had sold 4.2 million copies and earned $170 million in the United States.[10]
Halo: Combat Evolved introduced many elements common to the franchise. Players battle enemies on foot and in vehicles to complete objectives across a mysterious alien landscape.Halo limited the number of weapons players could carry to two, forcing them to carefully select their preferred armament.[11] Players fight with ranged and melee attacks, as well as grenades. Bungie referred to the "weapons-grenades-melee" format as the "Golden Triangle ofHalo".[12] The player's has health measured inhit points that must be replenished with health packs, but also has a perpetually recharging energy shield.[13]
WhileHalo had not been intended as a franchise, the Bungie team wanted to make an ambitious sequel, looking to story and gameplay ideas that had been ultimately cut fromCombat Evolved, and inspired by how fans had received the game.[6][14] In particular, Bungie was surprised by how many fans used theSystem Link capability to network consoles together and play multiplayer inLAN parties. With the launch of theXbox Live online multiplayer service, Bungie wanted to bringHalo multiplayer to the internet.[14]
Halo 2, was announced on August 8, 2002, at Microsoft'sX02 press event,[15] and an impressive demo of the game was shown at Electronic Entertainment Expo the following year. The demo showed off new features like dual-wielding weapons and hijacking enemy vehicles, but behind the scenes the game was undergoing a troubled development; Bungie had to scrap the ambitious graphics engine as it would not run effectively on the Xbox hardware, leadership changes resulted in more infighting, and artists and designers wasted time developing assets that would ultimately not ship in the game. A planned massive multiplayer mode was entirely cut, leading to developerMax Hoberman's smaller-scale local mode becoming the only multiplayer offering. As the game's release date slipped, the studio entered a sustained period of crunch to finish the game, with other Bungie games being canceled and their staff absorbed into theHalo team.[5][6][14] The final act of the game had to be cut entirely in the rush to complete the game.[6]Halo 2 was released on the Xbox on in November 2004, and later forWindows Vista in 2007.[16][17] Part of the marketing took the form of analternative reality game,I Love Bees, centered around a website apparently hacked by a mysterious intelligence. Over the course of the game, audio clips were released that formed a narrative set on Earth betweenHalo andHalo 2.[18]Halo 2 was a critical and commercial success, grossing $125 million in the first day and becoming the highest-grossing release in entertainment history up to that point; it would ultimately sell 8 million copies, becoming the best-selling Xbox game.[19]Halo 2 was also a significant motivator for subscriptions to the Xbox Live multiplayer service.[20]
Frustrated by the development ofHalo 2 and wanting to move on to new non-Halo projects, Bungie wanted to wrap things up in a satisfying manner withHalo 3. Burned out byHalo 2, Jason Jones went on an extended sabbatical, and theHalo 3 effort started without direction as no one was definitively in charge. Designer Paul Bertone recalled that the large development staff (70–80 people) meant more meetings and less efficiency. Multiple staff members temporarily or permanently departed the development team, including Hoberman, who started his own studio,Certain Affinity after developingHalo 3's online systems. Despite the difficult development, overallHalo 3's development went more smoothly thanHalo 2.[6]Halo 3 was announced at the 2006Electronic Entertainment Expo, and released on theXbox 360 on September 25, 2007.[21] It added new gameplay elements, including deployable equipment and heavy weapons.[22] The game also added a limited map-editing tool, known as Forge, which allows players to insert game objects, such as weapons and vehicles, into existing multiplayer map geometry.[21] A saved films feature allowed players to record gameplay and review it from any angle.[23] Backed by an extensive marketing campaign,Halo 3 was a critical and commercial success, grossing $170 million in the U.S. in the first 24 hours.[24] The game was the best-selling title of the year in the U.S., and the fourteenth best-selling game of the 2000s.[25]
Lingering dissatisfaction with Bungie's acquisition by Microsoft in 2000 and a desire for more favorable profit-sharing onHalo 3 led to an agreement where Bungie would become an independent studio after shipping a set number of newHalo games.[6] Bungie announced their independence in October 2007.[26] They were contractually obligated to produce two moreHalo games as part of the deal. One project turned into the gameHalo: Reach, while the other was initially going to be a production withPeter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive. When that project was scrapped, Bungie took elements prototyped for it and added them to a smallerHalo 3 expansion, originally titledHalo 3: Recon.[6]
Produced using theHalo 3 engine and assets and with a smaller staff of only around 20 full-time employees,Recon—later renamedHalo 3: ODST—was conceived as a noir detective story, with the player character uncovering clues in a hub world that triggered playable flashbacks.Halo 3: ODST takes place between the events ofHalo 2, andHalo 3. The player had flexibility to explore and play missions in any order. Bungie staffers recalled that getting resources for the game was tough, as most of the studio's attention was onHalo: Reach.[6] In the game, players assume the role of weaker Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) rather than Spartan supersoldiers. Gameplay harkens back toCombat Evolved, with the use of health packs and scoped pistols. A night-vision mode illuminates dark environments and highlights friends and foes. In addition to shipping with the completeHalo 3 multiplayer,ODST also added a cooperativesurvival mode called Firefight, where players fight against waves of enemies with limited lives.[27][28]Halo 3: ODST released September 22, 2009, and was positively received, though its price as a full game (rather than a cheaper expansion) was sometimes criticized.[6][29] It was the top-selling title of the month in the U.S. and ultimately sold more than three million copies worldwide.[30][31]Eurogamer pointed to the work Bungie put into the more experimentalHalo title as influencing the direction of its first post-Halo game,Destiny.[27]
Tired of focusing on the character of Master Chief, Bungie castHalo: Reach as a prequel toCombat Evolved, taking place on the doomed human world of Reach as it falls under attack from the Covenant.[6] The step backwards in the timeline was mirrored by the gameplay, which Bungie wanted to harken toCombat Evolved with more open environments and exploration, and the return of health packs.[29] Among the new additions were the replacement of single-use equipment with persistent armor abilities that enables sprinting, jetpacks, or temporary invincibility.[32] The game's release was preceded by a beta to help balance the game and squash bugs.[33]Reach released September 14, 2010, and was a success, making $200 million its first day and selling more than 4.7 million units by September 2011.[34][35]
While Bungie finished their association withHalo, the rights to the franchise remained with Microsoft.[26]Bonnie Ross, Xbox general manager at the time, recalled that her colleagues feltHalo was a waning property and wanted to outsource new game development,[36][37]: 21:45–23:00 while Ross argued for an internal studio.[37]: 26:15–27:05 Ross' vision won out, and she was put in charge of a new internalHalo studio, 343 Industries, named after the character343 Guilty Spark.[38][39][40][41] The studio started with a small staff in late 2007.[37]: 28:22
While 343 Industries worked with Bungie onODST andReach, the new company's first game project wasHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, aremaster of the franchise's debut title. The game was developed in partnership withSaber Interactive, with 343 Industries handling creative and Saber the engineering.[37]: 29:00–30:55 Saber had just one year to develop the game in anticipation ofCombat Evolved's tenth anniversary.[42] Players can switch between the original graphics and updated visuals with a button press.[43] Both classic and new graphics are presented inhigh-definition,16:9 widescreen compared to the original game's480i resolution and4:3 aspect ratio.[44] Certain Affinity helped develop multiplayer maps for the game, beginning a long collaboration between the two studios.[6] Reviews were generally positive,[45] though critics disagreed if the original, unaltered gameplay held up to modern standards.[46][47]
343 Industries began staffing up their studio while beginning development on the next majorHalo title, eventually growing to nearly 200,[48] and decided where they wanted to take Master Chief's story over the course of future games.Ryan Payton was initially offered the role of creative director, but his ideas for the game did not mesh with the expected first-person shooter focus, and before prototyping was done Payon was replaced and ultimately left in 2011.Josh Holmes took over as creative designer, and the studio shifted focus from ideating to producing the game in earnest. The result was a more safe, straightforward sequel toHalo 3.[6] Holmes wanted the game's story mode to explore Master Chief's relationship with Cortana, who would break down into adementia-like state.[49] Struggling with making the plot accessible for new players,[48] the team considered dropping the storyline. Holmes, drawing inspiration from his own mother's battle with dementia, insisted it stayed in.[49]
Halo 4 was announced atE3 2011 and released November 6, 2012.[50][51] The game picks up years after the events ofHalo 3, as Master Chief and Cortana arrive at a Forerunner world called Requiem, fighting against first the Covenant and then a new threat.[52][53] The game achieved record first-day sales for the franchise.[54] While reviews were generally positive,[55] the story was dinged for being incomprehensible to casual players and relying on knowledge of the wider franchise media.[56]
Intending to create a 10th anniversary edition ofHalo 2, like they had withCombat Evolved, 343 Industries, Saber Interactive, Certain Affinity and other studios collaborated onHalo: The Master Chief Collection, repackingCombat Evolved Anniversary,Halo 2 Anniversary,Halo 3 andHalo 4 in a single collection for theXbox One console. The launch was marred with glitches and matchmaking issues, which required numerous patches to fix.[57] Ross apologized to fans for the state of the game, and promised futureHalo games would have public betas.[58]Reach andODST were subsequently added to the collection, which was ported to PC and received enhancements for theXbox Series X.[59]
343 Industries' next installment,Halo 5: Guardians, was announced in 2014.[60] The game takes place across many worlds, mainly the Elite homeworld, and revolves around Spartan Locke's hunt for the rogue Master Chief, who is trying to find a still-living Cortana.[61]
The third part of the Reclaimer Saga,Halo Infinite, was announced duringE3 2018.[62] It brings the focus back to Master Chief, and Halo's roots by taking place on the new Zeta Halo. The story mainly focuses on exploring the deeper lore of theHalo series, finding what happened to Cortana, and battles with the Banished.[2] It released December 2021.[63]
On October 6, 2024, 343 Industries unveiled a seven-minute video where they confirmed multiple new games were currently in development usingUnreal Engine 5 as opposed to the proprietary Slipspace Engine. They also rebranded as Halo Studios.[64] Studio head Pierre Hintze explained that the decision to rebrand the studio came from an internal shift in development philosophy behind the franchise, giving the team a "clean break" as was the case with transitioning between Bungie and 343.[65] FollowingMicrosoft Gaming CEOPhil Spencer teasing the franchise's return for the following year at theXbox Games Showcase in June 2025,[66] aHalo Waypoint blogpost later that month disclosed that Halo Studios would unveil one of their newHalo projects in Unreal Engine 5 at theHalo World Championships in October.[67]
The project was revealed to beHalo: Campaign Evolved, a full remake of the originalCombat Evolved's campaign set to release in 2026 for Windows, Xbox Series X/S andPlayStation 5, marking the franchise's debut on Sony consoles.[68] Halo Studios community manager Brian Jarrard viewedCampaign Evolved as marking a new era for the franchise that encouraged the existingHalo community to welcome in new players joining from PlayStation, asserting that future entries going forward would also be released on Sony's consoles.[69]
Halo returned to its real-time strategy roots withHalo Wars, developed byEnsemble Studios for the Xbox 360 and released in 2009. The game takes place years prior to the events ofHalo: Combat Evolved. Ensemble spent six months developing a control scheme that was simple and intuitive for console strategy games, traditionally considered inferior to their keyboard-and-mouse-driven computer game siblings.[70][71] The game received generally positive reviews from critics,[72] and sold an estimated 2.6 million units, a massive success for the genre on consoles.[73]Halo Wars was Ensemble's last project as a studio before shuttering; post-release updates and content were developed byRobot Entertainment.[74] A sequel,Halo Wars 2, was developed byCreative Assembly and released on Xbox One and PC platforms simultaneously in February 2017.[73]
Interested in bringingHalo to mobile devices, 343 Industries partnered with Vanguard Games to produceHalo: Spartan Assault, atwin-stick shooter initially released onWindows 8 tablets and phones in 2013; the game later came to the Xbox andiOS platforms, and was the firstHalo game released onSteam.[75][76][77]Spartan Assault was followed by a sequel,Halo: Spartan Strike, in 2015.[78]
OtherHalo spinoffs include avirtual reality experience,Halo Recruit,[79] andHalo: Fireteam Raven, a coin-operatedarcade game developed byRaw Thrills and PlayMechanix released in 2018, starting with Round1 USA andDave & Buster's arcades.[80]Fireteam Raven takes place during the events ofHalo: Combat Evolved and puts the players in control of up to four ODST members fighting against the Covenant.[81]
Unreleased or cancelledHalo projects include an episodic video game,Halo: Chronicles, was announced in 2006. To be developed by film director Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive, it was canceled as part of budget cuts tied to job layoffs in January 2009.[82] Ensemble Studios developed aHalo-themedmassively multiplayer online game,Titan. The project was canceled internally in 2007–2008, as Microsoft lost interest in a PC-based game.[83][84] Certain Affinity was slated to develop their ownHalo title, but it was never greenlit because the team was needed to develop the Halo Waypoint online portal instead. AMega Bloks-branded spinoff game, similar to the style ofLego video games, was prototyped for the Xbox 360 but not pursued; footage of the game leaked several years later in 2017.[83]
343 Industries announced afree-to-playHalo multiplayer game for Windows PC,Halo Online, in 2015. The game launched with a closedbeta test limited to Russia that year. The title was developed with Saber Interactive using modified version of theHalo 3 engine, and published by Innova Systems. The project was canceled in August 2016.[83][85] Players modified the game to circumvent the region limitations and add new content after the project's official cancellation.[86] This "ElDewrito" project saw legal takedowns from Microsoft for violating its game usage rules.[87] The modders claimed its ElDewrito's popularity hastened Microsoft's plans to release a Windows version ofHalo: The Master Chief Collection, which would later include content fromHalo Online.[88][89]
Bungie acknowledged that theHalo series' use of ring-shapedmegastructures followed on from concepts featured inLarry Niven'sRingworld andIain M. Banks'Culture series (of whichConsider Phlebas andExcession were said to be particularly influential.)[90][91] Jaime Griesemer commented that the influence ofRingworld was less in the appearance of the Halo rings, but instead "in that feeling of being somewhere else. That sense of scale and an epic story going on out there."[90] Griesemer also explained, "One of the main sources of inspiration wasArmor [byJohn Steakley], in which a soldier has to constantly re-live the same war over and over again. That sense of hopelessness, a relentless battle, was influential."[90] The Flood were influenced by the assimilating alien species inChristopher Rowley'sThe Vang;[90] it has also been speculated that the Master Chief's name "John 117" may have been a reference to a character named Jon 6725416 in Rowley'sStarhammer,[92] or to the John Spartan character ofDemolition Man.[93] An IGN article exploring the literary influences present in theHalo franchise commented on similarities betweenHalo andOrson Scott Card'sEnder's Game: aspects of theSPARTAN Project and the design of the Covenant Drones are perceived as reminiscent of the super soldier program and Buggers found in the novel.[92] Bungie has also acknowledgedJames Cameron's filmAliens as a strong cinematic influence.[94]
A report written by Roger Travis and published byThe Escapist comparesHalo with the Latin epicAeneid, written by classical Roman poetVirgil. Travis posits similarities between the plots of both works and compares the characters present in them, with the Flood and Covenant taking the role performed by the Carthaginians and Master Chief taking the role ofAeneas.[95]
TheHalo franchise draws heavily from religious iconography and nomenclature. The Flood and especially the Gravemind serve as demonic or satanic figures,[96] and the Master Chief's first encounter with the Flood can be likened to a journey to hell.[97] Academic P.C. Paulissen notes that the name 'Flood' suggests a reference to thebiblical deluge, with the Forerunner Ark being shelter from the Flood's destructive and cleansing power akin to the Bible.[96]
Players began creating impromptuHalo tournaments and local parties after the release of the first game. Bungie looked at the success of these matches as inspiration for crafting the online multiplayer components ofHalo 2.[98] Larger organizations soon began operatingHalo competitive games. In August 2002,G4 hosted the Halo National Championship Finals, a free-for-all tournament involving sixteen players from across the country (hosted byWil Wheaton ofStar Trek fame.)[99] The Associates of Gaming Professionals (AGP), which focused solely onHalo, held its first event in November 2002.[100] Inspired by friends placing bets on theirHalo matches,Mike Sepso and Sundance DiGiovanni formedMajor League Gaming the same year.[101]
Microsoft and 343 Industries sponsored their own professionalHalo league, called the Halo Championship Series (HCS), in 2014.[102] It was started in partnership with theElectronic Sports League (ESL). Seasons 1 and 2 ran onThe Master Chief Collection.[103] In August 2015 Microsoft announced it would be increasing the total prize pool of the HCS to US$1 million, for the newly announced Halo World Championship, which will be the debut event forHalo 5.[104] Crowd-funding contributed to a US$2.5 million prize pool, the largest console esports prize pool ever.[105]
Martin O'Donnell andMichael Salvatori collaborated to produce the soundtracks for Bungie'sHalo games. Approached by Bungie to produce something ancient and mysterious forHalo's debut, O'Donnell decided to useGregorian chant, joining in with others to sing the vocal parts.[6] The music was designed to change dynamically based on what was occurring in-game;[106] for a more enjoyable listening experience on the soundtrack releases, O'Donnell arranged the music into standalonesuites.[107] ForHalo 2, the soundtrack included licensed music fromIncubus andBreaking Benjamin alongside the orchestral score;Steve Vai contributed guitar solos.[108]Halo 3's music shifted back to brought back themes from the original game to help tie together the end of the trilogy.[109] Unlike previous soundtracks, where much of the music had been synthesized on computer, the soundtrack forHalo 3 was recorded using a 60-piece orchestra, along with a 24-voice chorus.[110][111][112]ODST incorporated more jazz and noir elements, like saxophones,[6] while O'Donnell wrote more somber music to reflect the darker campaign forReach.[113]
Halo 4 audio director Sotaro Tojima began looking for a composer for the game in 2010, deciding onNeil Davidge after a year's search.[114] The music ofHalo 4 was composed byNeil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi. Davidge thought that scoring the video game would be similar to the process for a film, but discovered the dynamic nature of video games demanded a different approach.[115][116]Much ofHalo 4's music was written on guitar or piano; at home, Davidge would sometimes sing melodies into adictaphone for later transcription. While composing, he used the game's unfinished spaces and concept art as inspiration.[116] Additional music was composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi, who served as the sole composer forHalo 5. Being in-house at 343 Industries afforded Jinnouchi an early insight into the project, and he found it a less challenging task than his work onHalo 4.[117][118]
The music forHalo Infinite was a collaboration betweenGareth Coker, Curtis Schweitzer,Joel Corelitz, Alex Bhore, and Eternal Time & Space, overseen by 343 Industries Music Supervisor Joel Yarger.Infinite's soundtrack was released digitally on December 8, 2021.[119]
Other composers who have worked on Halo titles includesStephen Rippy, who listened to O'Donnell's soundtracks for inspiration and incorporated theHalo theme into parts of his arrangements forHalo Wars;[120]Gordy Haab, Brian Lee White, and Brian Trifon, who composed music for the sequel,Halo Wars 2;[121] andTom Salta who has worked on projects includingHalo 2 Anniversary andSpartan Assault.[122]
The music ofHalo helped spur a renewed interest in chant music.[123] TheHalo theme is a gaming anthem, and in the late 2010s led to videos of teenagers congregating to sing the tune.[124][125]
TheHalo franchise includes various types of merchandise and adaptations outside of the video games. This includes bestselling novels, graphic novels, and other licensed products. Numerous action figures and vehicles based onHalo have been produced. Joyride Studios createdHalo andHalo 2 action figures, whileHalo 3 poseable and collectible action figures, aimed at collectors, were produced byMcFarlane Toys and became some of the top-selling action figures of 2007 and 2008.[126]MEGA Bloks has partnered with Microsoft to produceHalo-themed toys.[127]
As part of Microsoft's multimedia efforts, Microsoft Studios decided to create a tie-in novel forCombat Evolved.Eric Nylund wroteHalo: The Fall of Reach in seven weeks, and it was published in October 2001.[128] Nylund would write additionalHalo works including the novelsFirst Strike (2003) andGhosts of Onyx (2006).[129] The game itself was turned into a novelization byWilliam C. Dietz in 2003, calledHalo: The Flood.[130] Other novels have been written byJoseph Staten (Contact Harvest),Tobias S. Buckell,Karen Traviss,Greg Bear (The Forerunner Saga),Matt Forbeck,John Shirley,Troy Denning,Cassandra Rose Clarke, andKelly Gay. Two short story collections,Halo: Evolutions (2009) andHalo: Fractures (2015), have also been released.[129]
TheHalo universe was adapted into comics in 2006 with the release ofThe Halo Graphic Novel, a collection of fourshort stories published byMarvel Comics. Marvel produced a number of otherHalo comic series.Halo: Uprising, byBrian Michael Bendis andAlex Maleev, bridges the gap between the events ofHalo 2 andHalo 3;[131] initially planned to conclude shortly before the release ofHalo 3 in 2007, delays led to the final issue being published in 2009.[132][133] Two additional comic runs were announced in 2009.[134]Peter David's series,Halo: Helljumper, is set prior toHalo: Combat Evolved and focuses on the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The five-part series was published between July and November 2009.[135]Fred Van Lente's series,Halo: Blood Line, revolves around a black ops team of Spartan supersoldiers assigned to the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence,[136] and debuted in December 2009.[137] Marvel also released a three-part comic adaptation of the novelHalo: The Fall of Reach in 2011.[138]
Dark Horse Comics has produced a number ofHalo series, beginning with the three-part seriesHalo: Initiation, released in August 2013.[139] Also announced wasHalo: Escalation, an ongoing comic series covering the period directly afterHalo 4; it ran for 24 issues from 2013 to 2015.[140]
In 2005,Columbia Pictures president Peter Schlessel began working outside the studio system to produce aHalo film adaptation.Alex Garland wrote a script,[141] which was then pitched to studios by couriers dressed as Master Chief. Microsoft's terms required $10 million against 15 percent of gross; most studios passed, citing the lack of risk for Microsoft compared to their large share of potential profits.20th Century Fox andUniversal Pictures decided to partner to produce the film, paying Microsoft $5 million to option the film and 10 percent of grosses.[142]Peter Jackson was slated to be the executive producer,[143] withNeill Blomkamp as director. Before Blomkamp signed on,Guillermo del Toro was in negotiations to direct.[144]
D. B. Weiss andJosh Olson rewrote Garland's script during 2006.[145] Pre-production of the film was halted and restarted several times.[146] Later that year, 20th Century Fox threatened to pull out of the project, leading Universal to issue an ultimatum to Jackson and Schlessel: either reduce their large"first-dollar" revenue deals, or the project was ended. Both refused, and the project stalled.[142] Blomkamp would produce a series of live-action shorts as promotion forHalo 3, collectively titledHalo: Landfall.[147] The rights for the film reverted to Microsoft.[148]
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a live-action film and miniseries set in the Halo universe. Although shot as a feature-length film,Forward Unto Dawn was originally released as a webseries consisting of five episodes released between October 5, 2012, and November 2, 2012. The series' plot, occurring in the early days of the Human-Covenant War, revolves around Thomas Lasky, a young cadet at Corbulo Academy of Military Science, and his relationship with the Master Chief. Lasky serves as a prominent character inHalo 4.[149][150] The film cut was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2012.[151]
On April 3, 2014, it was announced thatRidley Scott and his production company,Scott Free Productions, were working on aHalo digital feature alongside 343 Industries andXbox Entertainment Studios; Scott would be the executive producer, withDavid W. Zucker andSergio Mimica-Gezzan as the directors. The feature was expected to follow the same format as Machinima'sHalo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.[152] On June 9, 2014, it was announced at E3 2014 that the feature, titledHalo: Nightfall, would be included withHalo: The Master Chief Collection at its November 2014 launch. The feature introduces a new character to the franchise, Agent Jameson Locke, played by actorMike Colter;Nightfall is considered to be his origin story.[153] Locke is one of the Spartans portrayed on the cover art and plays a large role in the series.[154] On July 24, 2014, 343 Industries released the first trailer for the feature.[155]Halo: Nightfall is available to watch through Halo Channel, an application for the Xbox One, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone.[156] On March 16, 2015, the series became available to stream, download, and buy on physical disc.[157]
On May 21, 2013,Xbox Entertainment Studios and 343 announced that a live-action television show ofHalo would be produced withSteven Spielberg serving as executive producer through what is nowAmblin Television, with the series set to premiere on the American premium cable networkShowtime.[158] The series subsequently sat indevelopment hell for many years; the series began casting in 2019 and filming in 2021.[159][160][161] The series premiered onParamount+ on March 24, 2022.[162]
Microsoft announced atComic-Con 2009 that it was overseeing production of a series of seven shortanime films, together calledHalo Legends. Financed by 343 Industries, the animation was created by six Japanese production houses:Bee Train Production,Bones, Casio Entertainment,Production I.G.,Studio 4 °C, andToei Animation.Shinji Aramaki, creator and director ofAppleseed andAppleseed Ex Machina, served as the project's creative director.Warner Bros. distributedLegends on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2010.[40][163] Six of the stories are officially part of theHalo canon, with the seventh, made by Toei, intended to be a parody of the universe.[164]
An animated version ofThe Fall of Reach is included in theHalo 5: Guardians Limited Edition and Collector's Edition.[165][166]
Sales of games in theHalo series were more than 81 million by 2021.[173] Total franchise sales were reported at $6 billion the same year.[174] Non-game merchandise grosses counted for $1.8 billion of that figure.[175] Many of theHalo novels have appeared onPublishers Weekly,USA Today andThe New York Times bestsellers lists,[176] and multipleHalo soundtracks have charted on theBillboard 200.[177]
Variety calledHalo "the equivalent ofStar Wars".[178] The musical theme and Master Chief are considered gaming icons, and the Chief and Halo are considered important mascots and aspects of the Xbox brand.[179] Characters and elements from the series have made their way to other games such asDead or Alive,Guitar Hero,Killer Instinct,Forza, andFortnite.[180]
Halo redefined first-person shooters on consoles and was a major component in the Xbox's early success,[181] serving as the console'skiller app.[182] In a retrospective ofHalo 2, journalist Anthony John Agnello described the game's impact as akin to theasteroid hit that killed the dinosaurs, remaking the gaming landscape and creating the modern conception of games as shared social experiences.[98]GamesTM statedHalo: Combat Evolved "changed video game combat forever", andHalo 2 showcased Xbox Live as a tool for communities.[183]Game Daily notedHalo 2's launch was "easily comparable to the biggest in other sectors of the entertainment industry", marking the first time a video game launch has become a major cultural event in the United States.[184]
In 2007 IGN listedCombat Evolved as the top Xbox game of all time, while readers ranked it the fourteenth best game ever on "IGN Readers' Choice 2006 – The Top 100 Games Ever".[185][186] IGN listedHalo 2 as the number two top Xbox game of all time in March 2007.[185]Halo 3 was nominated for and won multiple awards; it wonTime magazine's "Game of the Year" and IGN chose it as the Best Xbox 360 Online Multiplayer Game and Innovative Design of 2007.[187][188][189] Most publications called the multiplayer aspect one of the best features; IGN said the multiplayer map lineup was the strongest of the series, and GameSpy added that the multiplayer offering will greatly please "Halo veterans".[190][191] Complaints focused on the game's plot.The New York Times said the game had a "throwaway" plot and Total Video Games judged the single-player aspect ultimately disappointing.[192][193] The series' music and audio has received enthusiastic response from game reviewers.[191][194][195]
TheHalo franchise spurred an array of productions in themachinima genre—the use of games for filmmaking.[196] Most productions are set outsideHalo canon, while others are based onfan fiction closely relating to the story. Microsoft updated itsuser license agreement to allow noncommercial distribution of such films.[197] Among the notable machinima productions made withHalo is the comedy seriesRed vs. Blue created byRooster Teeth Productions. It achieved an unparalleled level of success forHalo machinima specifically, and machinima in general.[198][199] Other machinima series includeArby ‘n the Chief,The Codex, and the in-game interview showThis Spartan Life.[200][201]
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