For your first Halo playthrough, use release order. It preserves the series’ original introductions and reveals, and Halo Support recommends starting with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary for that experience. If you already know the story and want events arranged by fictional time, use the broad chronological order below—but treat it as a game-level guide, not a definitive mission-by-mission timeline.
Release order: the best choice for a first playthrough
This broad list covers the major games and selected spin-offs by original release year. It is a practical play order, not a complete database of every regional date, port, remaster, or franchise entry. Games released in the same year are grouped by year in the source overview, so their placement here should not be read as a precise day-by-day sequence.
- 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)
The six-campaign path in Halo Support’s Master Chief Collection quick-start guide is narrower: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4. The guide explicitly advises new players to start with Combat Evolved Anniversary to experience the games in release order. The collection is available on Xbox and Windows, either by direct purchase or through some Xbox Game Pass plans.
Broad chronological order: the story by fictional time
This order places major games and selected spin-offs by their broad narrative setting. The year markers are selective, and official sources consulted do not establish a definitive position for every mission or overlapping event. In particular, the 2552 entries overlap or sit close together, so their internal order can be debatable.
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- 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 which part of its story is being summarized)
The chronological placements for Spartan Assault, Halo 4, and Spartan Strike are included in the broad game-level order; the overview does not attach specific years to those entries. The year labels above should not be mistaken for a complete canonical timeline.
How to place Halo: Campaign Evolved
Halo: Campaign Evolved launched globally on July 28, 2026, with a July 29 launch in Japan and selected Asia-Pacific markets, according to Xbox Wire’s announcement. It remakes the Combat Evolved campaign and adds Operation: METEORITE, a new three-mission story arc set a year before the first game.
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That means the remake does not belong entirely before Reach in a story-first playthrough. Put its Operation: METEORITE missions before Reach if you want the prequel events in fictional order; place the main remake after the original games if you are following release order. The GamesRadar+ broad order overview identifies the new arc’s setting as 2551.
Which order should you choose?
| Your goal | Recommended order | Why |
|---|---|---|
| It is your first Halo playthrough | Release order | It preserves the series’ original introductions and reveals, and it is Halo Support’s recommendation for new players. |
| You know the original story and want events by fictional date | Broad chronological order | It begins with earlier-set entries such as Halo Wars, while accepting that some overlapping events cannot be precisely ordered here. |
| You mainly want the central Master Chief campaign path | The six MCC campaigns | This is a more focused route than a franchise-wide list that also includes strategy games and spin-offs. |
| You want to include the remake’s new story content chronologically | Split Campaign Evolved | Place only Operation: METEORITE before Reach; the remake’s main campaign retells Combat Evolved. |
Why release and story order differ
Several Halo games were released after the stories they depict. Halo Wars is set in 2531, well before Combat Evolved; Reach also precedes the first game in the fictional timeline despite arriving later. Release order therefore shows how the series unfolded for players, while chronological order rearranges later-made prequels ahead of earlier releases.
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- 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.
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