# Halo games in order, and where to start

**November 9, 2026 · Perthro**

Halo turns 25 on November 15, 2026, and it has been a strange anniversary year. Halo: Campaign Evolved, a full remake of the first game's campaign, came out on July 28 on Xbox Series X/S, PC and, for the first time in the series, PS5. Then on September 22, Xbox announced that Activision will make the next Halo, with Halo Studios cut down to a small team that looks after the existing games.

The short answer on where to start: play the games in release order, beginning with the first one. On Xbox or PC that means Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which holds six campaigns in one package. On PS5 it means Campaign Evolved, because that is the only Halo on PlayStation. Story order is a fun second run, not a first.

## Halo games in order of release

Here is every main Halo, plus the two strategy games, the big collection and the remake.

| # | Game | Released | Original platform | Where to play it in late 2026 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Halo: Combat Evolved | 2001 | Xbox | In The Master Chief Collection (as Anniversary); remade as Campaign Evolved |
| 2 | Halo 2 | 2004 | Xbox | In The Master Chief Collection (as Halo 2: Anniversary) |
| 3 | Halo 3 | 2007 | Xbox 360 | In The Master Chief Collection |
| 4 | Halo Wars | 2009 | Xbox 360 | Definitive Edition on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC |
| 5 | Halo 3: ODST | 2009 | Xbox 360 | In The Master Chief Collection |
| 6 | Halo: Reach | 2010 | Xbox 360 | In The Master Chief Collection |
| 7 | Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary | 2011 | Xbox 360 | In The Master Chief Collection |
| 8 | Halo 4 | 2012 | Xbox 360 | In The Master Chief Collection |
| 9 | Halo: The Master Chief Collection | 2014 | Xbox One | Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC (Steam and Microsoft Store) |
| 10 | Halo 5: Guardians | 2015 | Xbox One | Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S only |
| 11 | Halo Wars 2 | 2017 | Xbox One, PC | Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC (Microsoft Store) |
| 12 | Halo Infinite | 2021 | Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC | Same |
| 13 | Halo: Campaign Evolved | 2026 | PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC | Same |

Two twin-stick shooters, Spartan Assault (2013) and Spartan Strike (2015), plus an arcade game called Fireteam Raven, sit outside this list. None of them matter to the story.

The row that does most of the work is number nine. The Master Chief Collection contains Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, ODST, Reach and Halo 4. It's $39.99 on Steam and on the Xbox Store, and the Xbox Store lists it as included with Game Pass Premium and Ultimate.

![Halo: Campaign Evolved screenshot: a Halo ring curving away above a Forerunner structure in orbit](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/4476e956228ef3eb.jpg)

## Halo chronological order: the story timeline

The story order moves three games. Halo Wars and Reach are prequels, and ODST slots in beside Halo 2.

| Story order | Game | When it's set | Who you play |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Halo Wars | 2531 | The crew of the Spirit of Fire (strategy game) |
| 2 | Halo: Reach | 2552 | Noble Six, a Spartan on the doomed colony of Reach |
| 3 | Halo: Combat Evolved or Campaign Evolved | 2552 | Master Chief |
| 4 | Halo 2 | 2552 | Master Chief and the Arbiter |
| 5 | Halo 3: ODST | Between Halo 2 and Halo 3 | A squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers |
| 6 | Halo 3 | 2552 to 2553 | Master Chief |
| 7 | Halo 4 | 2557 | Master Chief |
| 8 | Halo 5: Guardians | 2558 | Spartan Locke and Master Chief |
| 9 | Halo Wars 2 | 2559 | The Spirit of Fire again |
| 10 | Halo Infinite | 2560 | Master Chief |

Campaign Evolved adds one wrinkle. On top of the original ten missions it has three new ones set a year earlier, with Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson. They're a prologue inside the same game, so they don't change where it sits.

Our advice is not to start with this order. Reach was made nine years after Combat Evolved as a farewell from Bungie, and it lands because you already know how the story ends. Played first, it's just a good shooter with a bleak finish. Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game, a different genre, and a rough first impression of a series known for first-person shooting.

## Which Halo should I play first?

**Most people: Halo: Combat Evolved, then keep going.** The first game still explains the series better than anything written about it. Shields that recharge, two weapons at a time, grenades and a melee button, and big open fights with vehicles. Each campaign is short by modern standards, at roughly 7 to 10 hours, so the whole Bungie run of Combat Evolved, 2, 3, ODST and Reach comes to about 40 hours.

**Campaign Evolved or the Anniversary version?** Both tell the same story. Campaign Evolved is the modern one: rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, with sprint on by default (you can switch it off), vehicle hijacking, nine extra weapons, four-player online co-op with cross-play and two-player split-screen on consoles. It has no competitive multiplayer. Critics liked it without loving it. It sat at 83 on OpenCritic when we covered it in our [Halo: Campaign Evolved review roundup](/blog/2026-07-28-halo-campaign-evolved-assassins-creed-black-flag-resynced-galley-house-review-roundup), with IGN at 7/10 calling it a lean retread. The Anniversary version in The Master Chief Collection is the 2001 game with a button that swaps between old and new graphics. If you have Game Pass or already own the collection, start there and save the $49.99. If you want the nicest-looking version, or you're on PS5, Campaign Evolved is a fine first Halo.

**If you only want one modern game: Halo Infinite.** It's the newest main entry, with an open ring to explore and a grappling hook that makes every fight better. The catch is the plot, which leans on Halo 4 and Halo 5 and doesn't stop to explain. Its multiplayer is free to play, which is the cheapest way to find out if Halo's shooting clicks for you.

**What you can skip.** Halo 5 is the weakest campaign and the only main game stuck on Xbox, with no PC version and no split-screen. Play it for completeness after Halo 4, or read a summary. The two Halo Wars games are for strategy fans.

Whichever you pick, play on Normal the first time. Heroic is the series' traditional recommendation, but the older games are harsher than you remember. Our guide on [how to choose a difficulty setting](/blog/2026-10-03-how-to-choose-a-difficulty-setting) covers when it's worth going up.

![Halo: The Master Chief Collection screenshot: a purple Covenant Banshee strafing a rocky hillside](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/eab01920d8bb6dce.jpg)

## Is Halo on PS5?

Yes, but only one game. Halo: Campaign Evolved launched on PS5 on July 28, 2026, the same day as the Xbox and PC versions. The PlayStation Store lists the Standard Edition at $49.99 and the Premium Edition at $69.99, and marks it as PS5 Pro Enhanced.

Everything else stays on Xbox and PC for now. The Master Chief Collection, Halo 5, Halo Infinite and both Halo Wars games are not on PlayStation. There have been reports that the collection is being worked on for PS5, but nothing has been announced. When Campaign Evolved was revealed in October 2025, Halo community lead Brian Jarrard said future Halo games would also come to PlayStation. That was before the Activision handover, and Xbox hasn't repeated it since.

So a PS5 owner can play the start of the story today and nothing after it. If the rest matters to you, the cheapest route is a PC or an Xbox with Game Pass.

## Where to play Halo on Xbox, PC and Game Pass

**Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One** have everything: every game in the table runs here, and the Master Chief Collection is enhanced on Series consoles.

**PC** has The Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite, Halo Wars: Definitive Edition and Campaign Evolved on Steam, with Halo Wars 2 on the Microsoft Store. Halo 5 is the gap.

**Game Pass** now comes in Essential, Premium and Ultimate tiers, and the Halo games are split across them. Going by the Xbox Store listings at the time of writing, The Master Chief Collection and the Halo Infinite campaign are included with Premium and Ultimate, Halo 5 is included with all three, and Campaign Evolved is Ultimate only (it also launched on PC Game Pass). If you're weighing the subscription against buying, our [Game Pass vs PlayStation Plus vs Nintendo Switch Online comparison](/blog/2026-10-13-game-pass-vs-playstation-plus-vs-nintendo-switch-online) breaks down the tiers.

![Halo Infinite screenshot: three Spartans firing as they advance through a pine forest on Zeta Halo](https://perthro.io/assets/blog/c9b2c3e3171482ab.jpg)

## What's next for Halo in 2027?

Nothing with a name or a date. Here is what is confirmed.

On September 22, 2026, Xbox said Activision is building the next Halo with a new team set up for the job, separate from Call of Duty. Activision president Rob Kostich said the goal is "the greatest Halo game ever." The same announcement cut 268 jobs across Xbox's studios, including at Halo Studios, which keeps a small group to support Campaign Evolved, The Master Chief Collection and the other released games.

Earlier in the year there were reports of Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes following Campaign Evolved. Those were never announced, and nobody has said what happens to them now. Treat any 2027 Halo release as unconfirmed until Xbox or Activision puts a title on it. That makes this a good moment to catch up: for once the series isn't about to move on without you. It also says something about [why there are so many video game remakes](/blog/2026-09-29-why-so-many-video-game-remakes) that the only new Halo in five years was a rebuild of the first one.

Ten campaigns, three of them out of story order and six of them inside one launcher, is easy to lose track of. In [Perthro](https://apps.apple.com/app/perthro/id6764673686) you can line the series up in the order you plan to play, log each campaign with the platform and difficulty when the credits roll, and keep a note of which ones you ran in co-op. It works the same for Xbox, PC and PS5, as our [game tracker](/game-tracker-app) page explains.

### Sources

- [Wikipedia: Halo (franchise)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_%28franchise%29)
- [Wikipedia: Halo: Campaign Evolved](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_Campaign_Evolved)
- [Wikipedia: Halo: The Master Chief Collection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_The_Master_Chief_Collection)
- [Wikipedia: Halo Infinite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Infinite)
- [Wikipedia: Halo 5: Guardians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_5:_Guardians)
- [Wikipedia: Halo: Reach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo:_Reach)
- [Wikipedia: Halo 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_3)
- [Wikipedia: Halo 4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_4)
- [Wikipedia: Halo Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Wars)
- [Wikipedia: Halo Wars 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Wars_2)
- [Game Developer: Xbox continues 'reset' with Halo Studios layoffs](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/xbox-continues-reset-with-halo-studios-layoffs-and-undead-labs-divestment)
- [TheWrap: Xbox lays off another 268 employees, assigns Activision to next Halo game](https://www.thewrap.com/culture-lifestyle/culture/xbox-layoffs-activision-next-halo-game/)
- [PlayStation Store: Halo: Campaign Evolved](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/halo-campaign-evolved/)
- [Steam: Halo: Campaign Evolved](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2806050/)
- [Steam: Halo: The Master Chief Collection](https://store.steampowered.com/app/976730/)
- [Steam: Halo Infinite (Campaign)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708091/)
- [Xbox Store: Halo: The Master Chief Collection](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/x/9MT8PTGVHX2P)
- [Xbox Store: Halo: Campaign Evolved](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/x/9N683TDT5M7R)
- [Xbox Store: Halo 5: Guardians](https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/x/BRRC2BP0G9P0)
- [Push Square: Expect more Halo games on PS5](https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/10/expect-more-halo-games-on-ps5-dev-says-series-is-on-playstation-going-forward)
- [Game Rant: How long it takes to beat every Halo game](https://gamerant.com/halo-infinite-franchise-how-long-to-beat/)