Combat Evolved started life as a real-time strategy game for the Macintosh computers, turning into a first-person shooter exclusive to the Xbox video game console after Bungie was acquired by Microsoft in 2000. The success of Combat Evolved led to two sequels before Bungie regained its independence in 2007. Bungie released additional Halo games through 2010 before moving on from the franchise. Microsoft established 343 Industries to oversee Halo going forward, producing games itself and in partnership with other studios.
Combat Evolved was the Xbox's flagship "killer app" and cemented Microsoft as a major competitor in the video game console space. The games have sold more than 81million copies worldwide. With more than $6billion in franchise sales, Halo is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, spanning novels, graphic novels, comic books, short films, animated films, feature films, fan-made short machinima animations and other licensed products.
Story
Many millions of years ago, a species known as the Precursors assumed the Mantle of Responsibility – the guardianship of life in the galaxy. The Precursors chose an ancient form of humanity as their successors, over another species known as the Forerunners. In retaliation, the Forerunners attacked their former masters and drove the Precursors into extinction. Instead of fighting back, the Precursors allowed themselves to die, with some turning into dust intended to spread and later transform into themselves once again. This dust eventually became defective, infecting and contorting organisms into a new parasitic species, connected by a hivemind to the minds of the last Precursors: the Flood. The Forerunners sent the humans to Earth, reverting them to a primitive civilization based in Africa, and fought the Flood, which spread through an infestation of sentient life and overran much of the Milky Way Galaxy. Exhausting all other strategies, 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. A civil war began between the Forerunners' commander, known as the Ur-Didact, who wanted to assimilate all the humans on Earth into his army as AIs, thus immune to the Flood, and his wife, the Librarian, who created the Ark, an instrument that was to shelter sentient species outside the galaxy and allow for the mass creation of Halo installations which could all be activated simultaneously. The Librarian, along with all the remaining Forerunners, trapped her husband inside a Forerunner repository of knowledge known as the Domain, and disappeared as the Array was activated, thus destroying all sentient life in the galaxy and ending the outbreak of the Flood— though some Forerunners are known to have left the Milky Way galaxy for a different, unknown galaxy.
A human ship approaches a Halo megastructure under construction. Portions of the Ark are visible at the bottom. From the video game Halo 3 (2007).
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— has colonized many worlds thanks to the development of faster-than-light "slipstream space" (i.e., hyperspace) travel. Tensions between the government and colonies desiring independence sparked violent clashes. The UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) created the SPARTAN-II Project to create an elite group of enhanced supersoldiers to suppress the rebellions covertly. In the year 2525, human worlds came under attack by a theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant, whose leadership declared humanity heretics and an affront to their gods: the Forerunners. The Covenant began a genocidal holy war. Their superior technology and numbers proved to be decisive advantages; although effective, the Spartans were 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 intelligence Cortana are instrumental in the destruction of a Halo ring to stop the Covenant and the threat of the Flood. The assassination of one of the Covenant high prophets, turmoil within the Covenant, and the revelation of the Halo Array's true purpose leads to civil war. The disgraced former Covenant Sangheili commander known as the Arbiter, along with many of his species, helps the humans stop the Prophet of Truth from activating the Halo Array via the Ark. The Human-Covenant War ends, though new conflicts begin to emerge throughout the universe.
In the post-war era, the UNSC trains a new generation of Spartans, and tensions between the UNSC and colonist rebels resumes. The Master Chief and Cortana accidentally free the 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 new hegemony 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 largely led by the Jiralhanae species. The Banished win the resultant conflict, terminating Cortana and battling the UNSC for control of Zeta Halo.[2]
Video game studio Bungie was founded in 1991 by Alex Seropian in Chicago, Illinois, who partnered with programmer Jason Jones the following year to market and release Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Focusing on the Mac game market because it was smaller and easier to compete, Bungie became a preeminent game developer on the platform, releasing the successful Myth and Marathon. Bungie began development on a new game in 1998, 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 fiction real-time strategy game and took place on a hollowed-out world called Solipsis. The planet eventually became a ringworld called "Halo", in turn giving the game its title.[3]
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.[3][5]Halo was announced on July 21, 1999, during the Macworld Conference & Expo. The title of the game was finalized only days before it was announced at Macworld.[5]
Bungie was in troubled financial straits, and Microsoft was looking for games for its upcoming Xbox video game console. In June 2000, Microsoft announced their acquisition of Bungie, and Halo—now having morphed into a first-person shooter—became a launch title for the Xbox video game console.[3][5] 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. Writer Joe Staten wanted to do more than have the player character be an "empty vessel" like Half-Life's Gordon 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.[3][5][6]:112–113 The Xbox's marketing heavily featured Halo, whose green color palette meshed with the console's design scheme.[7]Halo was a critical and commercial success, selling alongside half of every Xbox sold.[8] By July 2006, the game had sold 4.2million copies and earned $170million in the United States alone.[9]
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.[10] Players fight with ranged and melee attacks, as well as grenades. Bungie referred to the "weapons-grenades-melee" format as the "Golden Triangle of Halo".[11] The player's has health measured in hit points that must be replenished with health packs, but also has a perpetually recharging energy shield.[12]
While Halo 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 from Combat Evolved, and inspired by how fans had received the game.[5][13] In particular, Bungie was surprised by how many fans used the System Link capability to network consoles together and play multiplayer in LAN parties. With the launch of the Xbox Live online multiplayer service, Bungie wanted to bring Halo multiplayer to the internet.[13]
Halo 2, was announced on August 8, 2002, at Microsoft's X02 press event,[14] 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 developer Max 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 the Halo team.[3][5][13] The final act of the game had to be cut entirely in the rush to complete the game.[5]Halo 2 was released on the Xbox on November 9, 2004, and later for Windows Vista on May 17, 2007.[citation needed] The game 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.[citation needed]Halo 2 was also a significant motivator for subscriptions to the Xbox Live multiplayer service.[15]
Frustrated by the development of Halo 2 and wanting to move on to new non-Halo projects, Bungie wanted to wrap things up in a satisfying manner with Halo 3. Burned out by Halo 2, Jason Jones went on an extended sabbatical, and the Halo 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 developing Halo 3's online systems. Despite the difficult development, overall Halo 3's development went more smoothly than Halo 2.[5]Halo 3 was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo,[16] and released on the Xbox 360 on September 25, 2007.[citation needed] It added new gameplay elements, including deployable equipment and heavy weapons.[17] 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.[citation needed] A saved films feature allowed players to record gameplay and review it from any angle.[18] It was a critical and commercial success, grossing $170million in the U.S. in the first 24 hours.[19] The game was the best-selling title of the year in the U.S., and the fourteenth best-selling game of the 2000s.[20]
Lingering dissatisfaction with Bungie's acquisition by Microsoft in 2000 and a desire for more favorable profit-sharing on Halo 3 led to an agreement where Bungie would become an independent studio after shipping a set number of new Halo games.[5] Bungie announced their independence in October 2007.[21] They were contractually obligated to produce two more Halo games as part of the deal. One project turned into the game Halo: Reach, while the other was initially going to be a production with Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive. When that project was scrapped, Bungie took elements prototyped for it and added them to a smaller Halo 3 expansion, originally titled Halo 3: Recon.[5]
Produced using the Halo 3 engine and assets and with a smaller staff of only around 20 full-time employees, Recon—later renamed Halo 3: ODST—was conceived as a noir detective story, with the player character uncovering clues in a hub world that triggered playable flashbacks. 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 on Halo: Reach.[5] In the game, players assume the role of weaker Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) rather than Spartan supersoldiers; lost health must be replenished with scrounged health packs. A VISR mode illuminates dark environments and highlights friends and foes, and the player is equipped with new equipment, such as silenced submachine guns and pistols. In addition to shipping with the complete Halo 3 multiplayer, ODST also added a cooperative survival mode called Firefight, where players fight against waves of enemies with limited lives.[citation needed]Halo 3: ODST released September 22, 2009, and was positively received, though its price as a full game, rather than a cheaper expansion, was occasionally criticized.[5][22] It was the top-selling title of the month in the U.S. and ultimately sold more than three million copies worldwide.[citation needed]
Tired of focusing on the character of Master Chief, Bungie cast Halo: Reach as a prequel to Combat Evolved, taking place on the doomed human world of Reach as it falls under attack from the Covenant.[5] The step backwards in the timeline was mirrored by the gameplay, which Bungie wanted to harken to Combat Evolved with more open environments and exploration, and the return of health packs.[22] Among the new additions were the replacement of single-use equipment with persistent armor abilities that enables sprinting, jetpacks, or temporary invincibility.[23] The game's release was preceded by an beta to help balance the game and squash bugs.[24]Reach released September 14, 2010 and was a success, making $200 million its first day and selling more than 4.7 by September 2011.[25][26]
2010–2024: 343 Industries games
While Bungie remained involved in the Halo series by developing games such as ODST and Reach, the rights to Halo remained with Microsoft. To oversee everything Halo, Microsoft created an internal division, 343 Industries, to oversee the franchise.[27][28][29][30]
343 Industries was established by Microsoft Game Studios in 2007 to oversee the Halo games and associated media.
343 had already codeveloped the Halo Legends animated series and had overseen production of Halo: Reach and 2011's Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a remaster of the franchise's debut title.[31] The next game in the series, Halo 4, was announced at E3 2011 as the first entry in what would be originally known as the "Reclaimer Trilogy".[32][33] The game included many staples of previous games, such as new or redesigned weapon types,[34] an improved map-editing tool[35] and expanded multiplayer options and maps.[36]Halo 4 was released worldwide on November 6, 2012,[37] achieving record sales for the franchise.[38] In a new addition to the series, a story-driven multiplayer campaign entitled Spartan Ops was released over the weeks following Halo 4's release, telling what happened after the end of the main game.[39] In announcing the formation of 343 Industries, Microsoft also announced that Xbox Live would be home to a central hub for Halo content called Halo Waypoint.[40] Waypoint is accessed from the Xbox 360 Dashboard and offers players access to multimedia content in addition to tracking their Halo game "career". O'Connor described Waypoint as intended to be the prime destination for Halo.[41]
In December 2014, 343 Industries general manager Bonnie Ross expressed Microsoft's aim for the Halo series to last at least 30 more years.[42]
Halo 5: Guardians, was released for the Xbox One on October 27, 2015.[43] 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.[44]
The third part of the Reclaimer Saga, Halo Infinite, was announced during E3 2018.[45] 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 the Halo series, finding what happened to Cortana, and battles with the Banished.[2] It released December 2021.[46]
On October 6, 2024, during the year's Halo World Championships, 343 Industries unveiled a seven-minute video where they officially announced their rebranding as Halo Studios, while also confirming that multiple new games in the series were currently in development, and that said games would use Unreal Engine 5 as opposed to the proprietary Slipspace Engine.[47] 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.[48] Halo Studios also unveiled "Project Foundry", described as a "multi-discipline research and reflection" project experimenting with the series' aesthetics in Unreal Engine 5, while also acting as a reference tool for training developers on future entries.[49]
The success of the main Halo trilogy spurred the creation of spin-off games. Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360. Set in the year 2531, the game takes place 21 years prior to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Much effort was spent on developing a control scheme that was simple and intuitive, unlike other console strategy games.[50] The game was announced at X06, and released in February and March 2009.
In October 2017, 343 Industries developed and released a virtual reality demo title in partnership with Endeavor One called Halo Recruit.[51]
In 2018, 343 Industries partnered with Raw Thrills and PlayMechanix to develop a coin-operated arcade game called Halo: Fireteam Raven that was released in the later part of 2018, with Round1 USA and Dave & Buster's arcades releasing first.[52][53] Fireteam Raven takes place during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and puts the players in control of up to four ODST Members battling Covenant forces and the Flood within 6 levels.
Alternative reality games have been used to promote the release of Halo games, beginning with the Cortana Letters, a series of cryptic email messages, circulated by Bungie prior to Halo: Combat Evolved's release.[54]I Love Bees was used to promote the release of Halo2. The game revolved around a website created by 42 Entertainment, commissioned by Microsoft and endorsed by Bungie. Over the course of the game, audio clips were released that eventually formed a complete five-hour story set on Earth between Halo and Halo2.[55][56] Similarly, Iris was used as a viral marketing campaign for the release of Halo3.[57] It featured five web servers containing various media files related to the Halo universe.
Canceled and rumoured projects
In the 2000s, spin-off titles were rumored or pitched for the Game Boy Advance,[58]Gizmondo,[59]Ultra-Mobile PC,[60] and Nintendo DS.[61] 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.[62][63][64] Ensemble Studios developed a Halo-themed massively multiplayer online game, Titan. The project was canceled internally in 2007–2008, as Microsoft lost interest in a PC-based game.[61][65] Certain Affinity was slated to develop their own Halo title, but it was never greenlit because the team was needed to develop the Halo Waypoint online portal instead. A Mega Bloks-branded spinoff game, similar to the style of Lego video games, was prototyped for the Xbox 360 but not pursued; footage of the game leaked several years later in 2017.[61]
343 Industries announced a free-to-playHalo multiplayer game for Windows PC, Halo Online, in 2015. The game launched with a closed beta test limited to Russia that year. The title was developed with Saber Interactive using modified version of the Halo 3 engine, and published by Innova Systems. The project was canceled in August 2016.[61][66] Players modified the game to circumvent the region limitations and add new content after the project's official cancellation.[67] This "ElDewrito" project saw legal takedowns from Microsoft for violating its game usage rules.[68] Despite this, ElDewrito's playerbase remained active, and the modders claimed its popularity hastened Microsoft's plans to release a Windows version of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which would later include content from Halo Online.[69][70]
Cultural influences and themes
In 2006, in acknowledgment of the "wealth of influences adopted by the Bungie team", a list of Bungie employees' favorite science fiction material was published on the company's website.[71] The developers acknowledged that the Halo series' use of ring-shaped megastructures followed on from concepts featured in Larry Niven's Ringworld and Iain M. Banks' Culture series (of which Consider Phlebas[72] and Excession[71] were said to be particularly influential). In a retrospective article in Edge, Bungie's Jaime Griesemer commented, "The influence of something like Ringworld isn't necessarily in the design—it's in that feeling of being somewhere else. That sense of scale and an epic story going on out there."[72] Griesemer also explained, "One of the main sources of inspiration was Armor [by John 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."[72] The Flood were influenced by the assimilating alien species in Christopher Rowley's The Vang;[72] 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's Starhammer,[73] or to the John Spartan character of Demolition Man.[74] An IGN article exploring the literary influences present in the Halo franchise commented on similarities between Halo and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game: aspects of the SPARTAN Project and the design of the Covenant Drones are perceived as reminiscent of the super soldier program and Buggers found in the novel.[73] Bungie has also acknowledged James Cameron's film Aliens as a strong cinematic influence.[75]
A report written by Roger Travis and published by The Escapist compares Halo with the Latin epic Aeneid, written by classical Roman poet Virgil. 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 of Aeneas.[76]
Esports
Players began creating impromptu Halo 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 of Halo 2.[77]
Larger organizations soon began operating Halo competitive games. In August 2002, G4 hosted the Halo National Championship Finals, a FFA [free-for-all] tournament involving sixteen players from across the country (hosted by Wil Wheaton of Star Trek fame.)[78] The Associates of Gaming Professionals (AGP), which focused solely on Halo, held its first event in November 2002.[79] Inspired by friends placing bets on their Halo matches, Mike Sepso and Sundance DiGiovanni formed Major League Gaming the same year.[80]
Microsoft and 343 Industries sponsored their own professional Halo league, called the Halo Championship Series (HCS), in 2014.[81] It was started in partnership with the Electronic Sports League (ESL). Seasons 1 and 2 ran on The Master Chief Collection.[82] In August 2015 Microsoft announced it would be increasing the total prize pool of the HCS to US$1million, for the newly announced Halo World Championship, which will be the debut event for Halo 5.[83] This prize pool was later announced to be crowd-funded, which later resulted in Major League Gaming announcing that the prize pool had climbed to US$2million. Later that week, 343 announced that the prize pool was locked at US$2.5million. This was the largest console esports prize pool ever.[84]
Forge
First introduced in Halo 3, Forge is an in-game map editor designed for adjusting weapon, vehicle, and prop placement. While in Editor Mode, the player becomes a floating robot, or "monitor", who can spawn, move, and delete any game object on the map. All objects are assigned a monetary value, and cost money to spawn; the level's "Forge budget" determines how much money the player can use to spawn objects. As a component of Halo 3, Forge received critical acclaim upon its release. GameSpot'sJeff Gerstmann described Forge as "an extremely powerful addition that might just take over your life", and praised the editor for the replay value it provided.[85]Heather Campbell of Play Magazine named Halo 3 her game of the year due to Forge, with co-editor Greg Orlando explaining later in the issue: "What separates Halo 3 from other console shooters such as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Team Fortress 2, though, is the inclusion of a forge mode and the ability to save and edit gameplay films. [...] Although these modes are standard fare in most PC online shooters, their inclusion in a console game is something entirely new – and entirely wonderful."[86] In an editorial for Edge, N'Gai Croal stated that Forge could "help prove the viability of user-generated content on consoles."[87]Halo 3's iteration of Forge has received comparisons to Garry's Mod, a 2004 Half-Life 2 mod with a similar emphasis on free-form construction and experimentation.[88][89][85]
Outside of its intended use as a map editor, Forge has been used to create art installations by arranging in-game props to draw pictures and write messages.[90] Game modes and maps created in Forge have occasionally informed the development of Halo itself. Grifball, a fictional sport that originated in the Halo-themed web series Red vs. Blue, inspired a popular user-created Forge map and game mode styled after rugby. Grifball was developed into an official weekly playlist for Halo 3, and would go on to be included in every subsequent Halo game after Halo: Reach.[91]
343 Industries employee Nick Bird, working as Forge Quality Assurance on Halo Infinite, credited Forge for his interest in game development; "My time in Forge and the Forge community eventually led me to pursue a career in the industry, and ultimately landed me a position to work on what I love in a franchise I love."[92]
Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori collaborated to produce the soundtracks for Bungie's Halo games. Approached by Bungie to produce something ancient and mysterious for Halo's debut, O'Donnell decided to use Gregorian chant, joining in with others to sing the vocal parts.[5] Due to the varying nature of gameplay, the music was designed to change dynamically based on the gameplay.[93] To afford a more enjoyable listening experience, O'Donnell rearranged portions of the music of Halo into standalone suites, which follow the narrative course of the game, for the soundtrack releases.[94] For Halo 2, the soundtrack included licensed music from Incubus and Breaking Benjamin alongside the orchestral score; rock guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai, performed various solos throughout the score.
For Halo 3, O'Donnell noted he wanted to bring back the themes from the original game to help tie together the end of the trilogy.[95] The tracks are presented, similarly to the previous soundtrack for Halo 2,[96] in a suite form. Unlike previous soundtracks, where much of the music had been synthesized on computer, the soundtrack for Halo 3 was recorded using a 60-piece orchestra, along with a 24-voice chorus.[97][98][99] A soundtrack for Halo 3: ODST was released alongside the game and included many of the tracks from the game.[100] For Bungie's last game in the Halo series, Halo: Reach, Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori returned to compose the soundtrack. O'Donnell wrote "somber, more visceral" music to reflect the darker nature of the campaign and style of the game. As Bungie had been making Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach at the same time, Martin O'Donnell had also been composing the soundtracks at the same time, but production for the music of Halo: Reach did not begin until after the release of Halo 3: ODST.
The music of Halo helped spur a renewed interest in chant music.[101]
For Halo Wars, the task of creating the game's music fell to Stephen Rippy. Rippy listened to O'Donnell's soundtracks for inspiration and incorporated the Halo theme into parts of his arrangements. In addition to synthesized and orchestral components, the composer focused on the choir and piano as essential elements, feeling these were important in creating the "Halo sound".[102]
The music of Halo 4 was composed by Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi. The Halo 4 Original Soundtrack was released on October 22, 2012, followed by a two-disc Special Edition on November 6. Neil Davidge served as an out-of-house composer for 343 Industries which proved to be very expensive leading Kazuma Jinnouchi to take over the responsibility of music production for Halo 5: Guardians. The music by Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi for Halo 4 received mixed reviews, being recognized as creative music but too different from the original Halo formula. Jinnouchi returned to compose the music for Halo 5: Guardians.
In 2017, 343 Industries and Creative Assembly released a sequel to Halo Wars titled Halo Wars 2. The soundtrack was composed by Gordy Haab, Brian Lee White and Brian Trifon under the direction of Paul Lipson who had helped in the audio and music of nearly every previous Halo title. The Halo Wars 2 soundtrack featured many melodies from the music that Stephen Rippy had composed for the first Halo Wars but with new arrangements and more melodies to represent the individual characters. The original game soundtrack was released on February 17, 2017, and released digitally on February 21, 2017.
The music for Halo Infinite was a collaboration between Gareth 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, in two albums, one covering the score for the campaign, and another covering the music for the game's multiplayer component.
The Halo franchise includes various types of merchandise and adaptations outside of the video games. This includes bestselling novels, graphic novels, and other licensed products, from action figures to a packaging tie-in with Mountain Dew. Numerous action figures and vehicles based on Halo have been produced. Joyride Studios created Halo and Halo2 action figures, while Halo3 poseable and collectible action figures, aimed at collectors, were produced by McFarlane Toys and became some of the top-selling action figures of 2007 and 2008.[103]MEGA Bloks partnered with Microsoft to produce Halo Wars-themed toys.[104]
A collection of Halo short stories, Halo: Evolutions, was simultaneously released in print and audiobook formats in November 2009. Evolutions includes original material by Nylund, Buckell, Traviss, and contributions from Bungie.[109] Tor re-released the first three Halo novels with new content and cover art.[110] Another collection, Halo: Fractures, compiled new and previously released short fiction in 2016.[111]
Comics
The Halo universe was first adapted into the graphic novel format in 2006, with the release of The Halo Graphic Novel, a collection of four short stories.[112]Marvel Comics produced a limited comic series, Halo: Uprising, with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Uprising bridges the gap between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3;[113] initially planned to conclude shortly before the release of Halo 3 in 2007, delays led to the final issue being published April 2009.[114]
Marvel announced two new comics series at Comic Con 2009. a five-part series written by Peter David and a second series written by Fred Van Lente, would appear the coming summer and winter.[115]Peter David's series, Halo: Helljumper, is set prior to Halo: Combat Evolved and focuses on the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The five-part series was published between July and November 2009.[116]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,[117] and debuted in December 2009.[118] A three-part comic adaptation of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach was released in 2011.[119]
Dark Horse Comics has produced a number of Halo series, beginning with the three-part series, Halo: Initiation was released August 2013 with Brian Reed returning as writer.[120] Also announced was Halo: Escalation, an ongoing comic series covering the period directly after Halo 4; it ran for 24 issues from 2013 to 2015.[121]
Live-action
Unproduced feature
In 2005, Columbia Pictures president Peter Schlessel began working outside the studio system to produce a Halo film adaptation. Alex Garland wrote a script,[122] which was then pitched to studios by couriers dressed as Master Chief. Microsoft's terms required $10million against 15percent of gross; most studios passed, citing the lack of risk for Microsoft compared to their large share of potential profits. 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures decided to partner to produce the film, paying Microsoft $5million to option the film and 10percent of grosses.[123]Peter Jackson was slated to be the executive producer,[124] with Neill Blomkamp as director. Before Blomkamp signed on, Guillermo del Toro was in negotiations to direct.[125]
D. B. Weiss and Josh Olson rewrote Garland's script during 2006.[126] Pre-production of the film was halted and restarted several times.[127] 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.[123] Blomkamp would produce a series of live-action shorts as promotion for Halo 3, collectively titled Halo: Landfall.[128] The rights for the film reverted to Microsoft.[129]
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 how John-117 inspired him to eventually become a leader. Lasky is also a prominent character in Halo 4 as a commander on the UNSC Infinity. The name of the series, aside from being a reference to the UNSC frigate Forward Unto Dawn, is given new significance in the series as part of a running motif based on a poem. The film cut was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2012.
Halo: Nightfall
On April 3, 2014, it was announced that Ridley Scott and his production company, Scott Free Productions, were working on a Halo digital feature alongside 343 Industries and Xbox Entertainment Studios; Scott would be the executive producer, with David W. Zucker and Sergio Mimica-Gezzan as the directors. The feature was expected to follow the same format as Machinima's Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.[130] On June 9, 2014, it was announced at E3 2014 that the feature, titled Halo: Nightfall, would be included with Halo: The Master Chief Collection at its November 2014 launch. The feature introduces a new character to the franchise, Agent Jameson Locke, played by actor Mike Colter; Nightfall is considered to be his origin story.[131] Locke is one of the Spartans portrayed on the cover art and plays a large role in the series.[132] On July 24, 2014, 343 Industries released the first trailer for the feature.[133]Halo: Nightfall is available to watch through Halo Channel, an application for the Xbox One, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone.[134] On March 16, 2015, the series became available to stream, download, and buy on physical disc.[135]
On May 21, 2013, Xbox Entertainment Studios and 343 announced that a live-action television show of Halo would be produced with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer through what is now Amblin Television. It was originally titled Halo: The Television Series. Neill Blomkamp was rumored to be directing the pilot for the series.[136] Xbox Entertainment Studios shut down in 2014. Later, it was announced the series would premiere on the American premium cable network Showtime.[137] It had been in development hell for many years. On March 1, 2018, it was announced that the series would start filming in late 2018, with speculation of the series airing in mid- to late-2019.[138] On June 28, 2018, Kyle Killen was hired as showrunner and executive producer and Rupert Wyatt as director and executive producer.[139] On December 4, 2018, Wyatt stepped down as director and executive producer from the project due to scheduling conflicts.[140] On February 21, 2019, Otto Bathurst replaced Wyatt as director and executive producer.[141] On April 17, 2019, it was announced that Pablo Schreiber was cast as Master Chief.[142] On August 2, 2019, Deadline reported that Natascha McElhone had been cast in two key roles: Cortana and Dr. Catherine Halsey, Bokeem Woodbine was also cast as Soren-066, along with Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, and Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha. It was also announced that the series would be released in early 2021.[143] Filming was incorrectly reported to have officially begun in October 2019.[144] In November 2020, Jen Taylor, who voiced Cortana in every major game in the Halo franchise, replaced McElhone in that role.[145] It then was reported that filming began in February 2021 and that ViacomCBS was shifting the show from Showtime to Paramount+[146] with Showtime retaining production credits. The series premiered on March 24, 2022.[147]
Microsoft announced at Comic-Con 2009 that it was overseeing production of a series of seven short anime films, together called Halo 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, and Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki, creator and director of Appleseed and Appleseed Ex Machina, served as the project's creative director. Warner Bros. distributed Legends on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2010.[27][148] Six of the stories are officially part of the Halo canon, with the seventh, made by Toei, intended to be a parody of the universe.[149]
An animated version of The Fall of Reach is included in the Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition and Collector's Edition.[150][151]
The Halo franchise has been highly successful commercially and critically. During the two months following Halo: Combat Evolved's release, it sold alongside more than fifty percent of Xbox consoles.[159]Halo2's sales generated US$125million on its premiere day, making it the fastest selling United States media product in history up to that time.[160][161] Combined with Halo's sales, the two games sold 14.8million units before Halo 3's release.[162] At the end of 2007, Halo2 and Halo: Combat Evolved were the number one and two best-selling Xbox titles, respectively, and Halo3 was the best-selling Xbox360 title.[163] The Halo series had sold more than 81million copies by 2021,[158] and total franchise sales amounted to more than $6 billion in 2021.[164]
The soundtracks to Halo 2, Halo 3, ODST and Reach all appeared on the Billboard 200 charts for at least one week.[165] By May 2011, total gross of Halo merchandise was $2billion, with 40million copies of the games sold.[166] Total franchise grosses exceeded $4.6billion by October 2015, with 25% of the figure from non-game-related merchandise.[167]
The Halo adaptations have been successful as well. Many of the novels have appeared on Publishers Weekly's bestseller charts and the Halo Graphic Novel sold more than 100,000 copies, a "rare hit" for the games-to-comics genre.[168]Ghosts of Onyx, Contact Harvest, The Cole Protocol and the first volume of Cryptum appeared on The New York Times bestseller lists,[107][169][170][171][172][173] and The Cole Protocol also opened 50th overall on USA Today's bestsellers list.[174] Tor's first three novels sold more than one million copies by April 2009.[175]
Cultural impact and reception
Halo redefined first-person shooters on consoles and was a major component in the Xbox console's early success.[176]Halo's success led to the term "Halo killer" being used to describe console games that aspire, or are considered, to be better than Halo.[177] It was the Xbox's killer app.[178]
In 2007 IGN listed Combat 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".[179][180] IGN listed Halo 2 as the number two top Xbox game of all time in March 2007.[179] From its initial release on the Xbox in November 2004 until the launch of Gears of War on the Xbox 360 in November 2006– two years later– Halo 2 was the most popular video game on Xbox Live.[181]Halo 3 was nominated for and won multiple awards; it won Time magazine's "Game of the Year" and IGN chose it as the Best Xbox 360 Online Multiplayer Game and Innovative Design of 2007.[182][183][184] 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".[185][186] 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.[187][188] The series' music and audio has received enthusiastic response from game reviewers.[186][189][190]
The Master Chief is considered an icon of video gaming; a wax replica of Master Chief was made by Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas, where Pete Wentz compared the character to notable characters from previous generations like Spider-Man, Frodo, and Luke Skywalker.[191]GamesTM stated Halo: Combat Evolved "changed video game combat forever", and Halo2 showcased Xbox Live as a tool for communities.[192] Game Daily noted Halo2'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.[193]Halo has been described as a series that "has reinvented a genre that didn't know it needed to be reinvented", with aspects of the main trilogy being duplicated in other first-person shooter games multiple times.[194]
Variety called Halo "the equivalent of Star Wars".[195] The fandom is referred to as the "Halo nation".[196]
Halo characters have appeared in tie-ins, such as the characters Spartan Nicole-458 and the Arbiter being playable fighters in Dead or Alive 4 and Killer Instinct: Season Three, respectively.[197][198] Master Chief was added as a playable character in Fortnite alongside a stage inspired by a Halo multiplayer map in 2020.[199]
Another game, Halo 2600, has the players control Master Chief and fight through four regions filled with enemies. It was written by Ed Fries, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft, in 2010 for the Atari 2600.[200]
The Halo theme tune was also available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.[201] In Forza Horizon 4 one level has the player racing across the map in the Warthog as the Master Chief, with the Halo ring visible in the sky, Cortana on the radio and various Covenant based obstacles to avoid.[202]
The Halo franchise spurred an array of productions in an emerging genre of machinima—the use of games for filmmaking.[203] Most productions are set outside Halo canon, while others are based on fan fiction closely relating to the story. Halo 3 includes a saved film function that allows camera angles not possible in previous games, and other features that simplify production. The game has become one of the most popular tools for generating machinima, and Microsoft updated its user license agreement to allow noncommercial distribution of such films.[204]
A notable machinima production is the comedy series Red vs. Blue created by Rooster Teeth Productions. It has achieved an unparalleled level of success in Halo machinima in specific, and machinima in general; it is credited with bringing attention to the genre.[205][206]Red vs. Blue generated annual revenues of US$200,000, and special promotional episodes were commissioned by Bungie.[205] The first series, The Blood Gulch Chronicles, ended on June 28, 2007, after 100 regular episodes and numerous promotional videos.[207] Subsequent series include The Recollection, which contains more dramatic elements than its comedic predecessor,[208]Project Freelancer, The Chorus Trilogy, Anthology, and The Shisno Paradox. Other machinima series include Arby ‘n the Chief, Fire Team Charlie, The Codex, and the in-game interview show This Spartan Life.
Related Research Articles
Halo: Combat Evolved is a 2001 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox, for which it was released on November 15, 2001. The game was ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2003. It was later released as a downloadable Xbox Original for the Xbox 360. Halo is set in the 26th century, with the player assuming the role of Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier. Master Chief is accompanied by Cortana, an artificial intelligence. Players battle aliens as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo, a ring-shaped artificial world.
Halo 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. Halo 2 is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved. The game features new weapons, enemies, and vehicles, another player character, and shipped with online multiplayer via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. In Halo 2's story mode, the player assumes the roles of the human Master Chief and alien Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict between the United Nations Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and later, the parasitic Flood.
343 Guilty Spark, also known as just Spark, is a character in the military science fiction Halo franchise. Spark plays a major role in the storyline of the original Halo video game trilogy: the character appears in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3, as well as the remakes of the first two games, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Halo 2: Anniversary. Spark is voiced by actor Tim Dadabo in all media.
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in the Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite. She also briefly appears in the prequel Halo: Reach, as well as in several of the franchise's novels, comics, and merchandise. During gameplay, Cortana provides backstory and tactical information to the player, who often assumes the role of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. In the story, she is instrumental in preventing the activation of the Halo installations, which would have destroyed all sentient life in the galaxy.
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, colloquially known as Master Chief, is the protagonist of the Halo video game series and its spin-off media. The character first appeared in the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, a science fiction first-person shooter that became a long-running franchise. The character also appears in spin-off Halo media such as the 2012 film Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, the 2022–2024 Halo television series, and several graphic novels and books.
Halo 3 is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise following Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) and Halo 2 (2004), the game's story centers on the interstellar war between 26th-century humanity, a collection of alien races known as the Covenant, and the alien parasite known as the Flood. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he battles the Covenant and the Flood. In cooperative play, other human players assume the role of allied alien soldiers. The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay elements familiar and new to the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, file sharing, and the Forge map editor—a utility which allows the player to perform modifications to multiplayer levels.
In the Halo universe, an Arbiter is a ceremonial, religious, and political rank bestowed upon Covenant Elites. In the 2004 video game Halo 2, the rank is given to a disgraced commander named Thel 'Vadam as a way to atone for his failures. Although the Arbiter is intended to die serving the Covenant leadership, the High Prophets, he survives his missions and the Prophets' subsequent betrayal of his kind. When he learns that the Prophets' plans would doom all sentient life in the galaxy, the Arbiter allies with the Covenant's enemies (humans) and stops the ringworld Halo from being activated. The Arbiter is a playable character in Halo 2 and its 2007 sequel Halo 3. The character also appears in Halo 5: Guardians and additional expanded universe material. A different Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee appears in the 2009 real-time strategy game Halo Wars, which takes place 20 years before the events of the main trilogy.
Joseph Staten is an American writer best known for his work at video game studios Bungie, Microsoft Studios, and 343 Industries.
Certain Affinity is an American video game development studio based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2006 by Max Hoberman and a small number of other ex-Bungie employees and other industry veterans. On October 18, 2024, Certain Affinity was acquired by Keywords Studios.
The first-person shooter video game Halo 3 was the focus of an extensive marketing campaign which began with the game's developer, Bungie, announcing the game via a trailer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2006. Microsoft, the game's publisher, planned a five-pronged marketing strategy to maximize sales and to appeal to casual and hard-core gamers. Bungie produced trailers and video documentaries to promote the game, partnering with firms such as Digital Domain and Weta Workshop. Licensed products including action figures, toys, and Halo 3-branded soda were released in anticipation of the game; the franchise utilized more than forty licensees to promote the game, and the advertising campaign ultimately cost more than $40 million.
Halo 4 is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. Halo 4's story follows a genetically enhanced human supersoldier, Master Chief, and his artificial intelligence construct Cortana, as they encounter unknown threats while exploring an ancient civilization's planet. The player assumes the role of Master Chief who battles against a new faction that splintered off from remnants of the Covenant, a former military alliance of alien races, as well as a new enemy: mechanical warriors of the Forerunner empire known as the Prometheans. The game features a new selection of weapons, enemies, and game modes not present in previous titles of the series.
Halo 3: ODST is a 2009 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The fifth installment in the Halo franchise as a side game, it was released on the Xbox 360 in September 2009. Players assume the roles of United Nations Space Command Marines, known as "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" or ODSTs, during and after the events of Halo 2. In the game's campaign mode, players explore the ruined city of New Mombasa to discover what happened to their missing teammates in the midst of an alien invasion. In the "Firefight" multiplayer option, players battle increasingly difficult waves of enemies to score points and survive as long as possible; Halo 3's multiplayer is contained on a separate disc packaged with ODST.
Halo: Reach is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios, originally for the Xbox 360. The sixth installment in the Halo series and a direct prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, Reach was released worldwide in September 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with an alien theocracy known as the Covenant, which seeks to exterminate humanity. Players play as Noble Six, a member of an elite squad of supersoldiers, known as Noble Team, attempting to stage a defense of the human world known as Reach, which falls under Covenant attack.
Halo Studios is an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington, part of Xbox Game Studios. Headed by Pierre Hintze, the studio is responsible for the Halo series of military science fiction games, originally created and produced by Bungie, and is the developer of the Slipspace Engine. Originally named after the Halo character 343 Guilty Spark, the studio was created by Microsoft Game Studios in 2007 due to the departure of Bungie after the release of Halo 3.
Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington, and a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones's game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Originally based in Chicago, Illinois, the company concentrated on Macintosh games during its early years and created two successful video game franchises called Marathon and Myth. An offshoot studio, Bungie West, produced Oni, published in 2001 and owned by Take-Two Interactive, which held a 19.9% ownership stake at the time.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries, Saber Interactive, and Certain Affinity, and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is a remaster of the 2001 video game of the same name, originally developed by Bungie. Announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2011, it was released on November 15, 2011, the tenth anniversary of Combat Evolved and the original Xbox it released on. Anniversary was later included as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for Xbox One in 2014, and for Windows and Xbox Series X/S in 2020.
Halo 5: Guardians is a 2015 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries, published by Microsoft Studios, and released worldwide for the Xbox One game console on October 27, 2015. The plot follows two fireteams of human supersoldiers: Blue Team, led by Master Chief, and Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke. When Blue Team goes absent without leave to track down the artificial intelligence construct Cortana, Master Chief's loyalty is called into question and Fireteam Osiris is sent to retrieve him.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a compilation of first-person shooter video games co-developed by 343 Industries in partnership with Certain Affinity and Saber Interactive, and published by Xbox Game Studios. The collection includes the first six main installments in the Halo franchise released between 2001 and 2012, originally developed by Bungie and 343 Industries. It originally released for Xbox One on November 11, 2014.
Halo Infinite is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the sixth mainline installment in the Halo series, following Halo 5: Guardians (2015). The game's campaign follows the human supersoldier Master Chief and his fight against a mercenary organization, known as the Banished, on the Forerunner ringworld Zeta Halo. Unlike previous mainline entries in the series, the multiplayer portion of the game is free-to-play.
References
↑ Easterling, Jeff; Patenaude, Jeremy; Peters, Kenneth (2016). Fortune, Emil (ed.). Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo. Bloomsbury. ISBN9781681193564.
↑ Takahashi, Dean (March 11, 2007). "The Making of Halo and Halo 2". In Yeffeth, Glenn (ed.). Halo Effect: An Unauthorized Look at the Most Successful Video Game of All Time. BenBella Books. ISBN978-1-933771-11-3.
↑ 343 INDUSTRIES, Official (October 6, 2024). "A New Dawn". Halo Waypoint. Retrieved October 6, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ Goldstein, Hilary (September 23, 2007). "IGN (USA) Halo 3 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
↑ Wilcox, Jon (September 27, 2007). "TVG Review: Halo 3". Total Video Games. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
↑ Kohnstamm, Thomas. "The 'Halo 5' Effect". Microsoft Story Labs. Microsoft. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
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