Halo games in order: By release date and timeline

HALO is one of the most beloved gaming franchises of all time, bringing together millions of players every year.

Altogether, the Xbox exclusive series boasts 16 entries, with most linked to the main storyline of spartan super soldier Master Chief Sierra-117.

AlamyHalo is a critically acclaimed first person shooter franchise[/caption]

The interstellar war is set 500 years in the future as users battle it out against foes including The Covenant, The Prophets, The Forerunners, The Flood and The Prometheans.

Any gamer looking to play through the entire collection has two ways to go about it.

They could play the games in order of their release, or for a truly immersive experience, by following the franchise in timeline order.

We’ve put together a guide to completing the series one way or the other below.

Halo franchise release order

Here are the Halo games in release order, alongside their launch dates.

To make things concise, we’ve not included the mobile games or anniversary remakes.

Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)Halo 2 (2004)Halo 3 (2007)Halo Wars (2009)Halo 3: ODST (2009)Halo Reach (2010)Halo 4 (2012)Halo 5: Guardians (2015)Halo Wars 2 (2017)Halo Infinite (2021)

Halo franchise timeline order

You can also play the games in order of when they were set.

Halo Wars (2531)Halo Reach (2552)Halo: Combat Evolved (2552)Halo 2 (2552)Halo 3 (2552)Halo 3: ODST (2552)Halo 4 (2557)Halo 5: Guardians (2558)Halo Wars 2 (2559)Halo Infinite (2560)

Halo: Combat Evolved was first released on Xbox in 2001

Will there be any more Halo games?

Developers of the Halo franchise, 343 studios, have yet to announce if any further games will be released.

The latest title, Halo Infinite, was delayed for over a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, amongst other factors.

It’s campaign mode, which follows The Master Chief, was released on December 8, 2021.

But, the former Infinite director Chris Lee said that the title is intended to pave the way for future Halo games.

“Halo Infinite is the start of our platform for the future,” he said.

“We want Infinite to grow over time, versus going to those numbered titles and having all that segmentation that we had before.

“It’s really about creating Halo Infinite as the start of the next 10 years for Halo and then building that as we go with our fans and community.”