History of Halo (2001-2017) - Video Game History
66Evolution of all Halo games from 2001-2017!
Halo is a military science fiction first-person shooter video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed and developed by 343 Industries, a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant. The Covenant, led by their religious leaders called the Prophets, worship an ancient civilization known as the Forerunners, who perished in combat with the parasitic Flood. The central focus of the franchise builds off the experiences of Master Chief John-117, one of a group of supersoldiers codenamed Spartans, and his artificial intelligence (AI) companion, Cortana. Other characters, such as Noble Six from Halo: Reach, are also introduced in the series. The term "Halo" refers to the Halo rings: large, habitable superweapons that were created to destroy the parasitic Flood. They are similar to the Orbitals in Iain M. Banks' Culture novels, and less so to author Larry Niven's Ringworld concept.
The games in the series have been praised as being among the best first-person shooters on a video game console, and are considered the Xbox's "killer app". This led to the term "Halo killer" being used to describe console games that aspire, or are considered, to be better than Halo. Fueled by the success of Halo: Combat Evolved, and by immense marketing campaigns from publisher Microsoft, its sequels went on to record-breaking sales. The games have sold over 65 million copies worldwide, with the games alone grossing almost $3.4 billion.
Strong sales of the games led to the franchise's expansion to other media; there are multiple best-selling novels, graphic novels, and other licensed products. Halo Wars took the franchise into new video game genre territory, as a real-time strategy game, while the rest of the games in the series are first-person shooters. Beyond the original trilogy, Bungie developed the expansion Halo 3: ODST, and a prequel, Halo: Reach, their last project for the franchise. A high-definition remake of the first game, entitled Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, was released on November 15, 2011, exactly ten years after the release of the original. A new installment in a second series of games, Halo 4, was released on November 6, 2012. Halo: The Master Chief Collection, a remastered compilation of the four primary Halo titles, was released for the Xbox One on November 11, 2014. In October 2015, Halo 5: Guardians was released.
The collective group of fans of the series is referred to as the "Halo Nation".
2001 Halo: Combat Evolved
2004 Halo 2
2007 Halo 3
2009 Halo Wars
2009 Halo 3: ODST
2010 Halo: Reach
2011 Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
2012 Halo 4
2012 Halo 4: King of the Hill Fueled By Mountain Dew
2013 Halo: Spartan Assault
2014 Halo: The Master Chief Collection
2015 Halo: Spartan Strike
2015 Halo 5: Guardians
2015 Halo Online
2017 Halo Wars 2
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