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For a first playthrough, play the Halo games in release order: the series’ original sequence best preserves its introductions, reveals, and character development. Halo Support recommends starting with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary for that experience. If you already know the story and want events arranged by fictional date, use the broad chronological order below—but treat it as a game-level guide, not a precise mission-by-mission timeline.
Release order: the best starting point for most players
This practical list covers the major games and selected spin-offs by original release year. Games released in the same year are grouped in a broad sequence; this is not a complete record of regional launch dates, ports, remasters, or every franchise entry.
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- Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
- Halo 2 (2004)
- Halo 3 (2007)
- Halo Wars (2009)
- Halo 3: ODST (2009)
- Halo: Reach (2010)
- Halo 4 (2012)
- Halo: Spartan Assault (2013)
- Halo: Spartan Strike (2015)
- Halo 5: Guardians (2015)
- Halo Wars 2 (2017)
- Halo Infinite (2021)
- Halo: Campaign Evolved (2026)
Halo Support’s Master Chief Collection guide gives a narrower campaign path through the six campaigns included in the collection: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4. It explicitly recommends beginning with Combat Evolved Anniversary to experience the games in release order. The collection is available on Xbox and Windows, for direct purchase or through some Xbox Game Pass plans.
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The story order puts prequels before the events of the original game. It includes major games and selected spin-offs; the cited GamesRadar+ overview supplies this title sequence, but the year markers are selective and do not settle every mission’s placement. In particular, events set in 2552 overlap or occur close together, so their ordering can be debatable.
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- System requirement your device must meet all minimum requirements to open this product OS Xbox One architecture x64
- Halo Wars (2531)
- Halo: Campaign Evolved — Operation: METEORITE prequel missions (2551, one year before the first game)
- Halo: Reach (2552)
- Halo: Combat Evolved (2552)
- Halo 2 (2552)
- Halo 3: ODST (2552)
- Halo 3 (2552)
- Halo: Spartan Assault
- Halo 4
- Halo: Spartan Strike
- Halo 5: Guardians (2558)
- Halo Wars 2 (2559)
- Halo Infinite (2559–2560, depending on the portion of its story being summarized)
The list is useful for the broad arc, not as a canonical scene-by-scene timeline. The consulted sources do not establish a definitive placement for every campaign mission or overlapping event; years are omitted where the cited overview does not provide one.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where Halo: Campaign Evolved fits
Halo: Campaign Evolved is a remake of Combat Evolved, so its main campaign retells that story rather than taking place entirely before Reach. Its new Operation: METEORITE content is different: Xbox Wire describes it as a three-mission story arc set a year before the first game. For release order, play the remake after the earlier releases. For chronology, place only those new prequel missions before Reach, rather than moving the entire remake there.
Rank #2
Xbox Wire announced a global launch date of July 28, 2026, with July 29 in Japan and selected Asia-Pacific markets. That regional difference matters if you are using release order as a day-by-day chronology, but not for the broad release-year list.
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- System requirement your device must meet all minimum requirements to open this product OS Xbox One architecture x64
Rank #3
- Please NOTE: This game is UK Import Game it may be Arabic and English print on the cover. it is Region Free PAL Game.
- It may say "promotional copy not for resale" on cover but it is legal to sell in worldwide. It was removed from Xbox One Console combo.
Which order should you choose?
- New to Halo or prioritizing the original reveals: choose release order. It follows the series’ publication sequence and matches Halo Support’s recommendation for new players using the Master Chief Collection.
- Already know the original story and want fictional chronology: follow the broad chronological list, keeping in mind that it includes strategy games and spin-offs and is not exact at mission level.
- Want the focused Master Chief campaign path: use the six-campaign Master Chief Collection sequence rather than adding every spin-off. The collection guide’s exact starting point is Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
- Interested in the remake’s new story material: separate Operation: METEORITE from the retold campaign when building a chronology; its three missions are the part set before Reach.
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