I’m obsessed with stories. This comes as a shock to many of you, I know. These days when we hear the term, the immediate association is likely with penwoven narratives underpinning myriad entertainment properties and creative content. Or perhaps some variation of a bite-sized window of life viewed through the lens of a social platform.
But stories are much more than that, and they far, far predate the latest show, film, game, or app. Stories are how we’ve always known who we are. For as long as humanity has traversed creation under the light of Sol, stories have been how we communicate—how we share the details and DNA of our thoughts, experiences, traditions, and culture. Each of us is a chapter in a vast, ever-evolving narrative that celebrates each page old and new with adoration and anticipation.
Don’t worry, this long-winded preamble does ultimately have a point, I promise.
The thing about Halo that always captured me from the very beginning and pulled me close was its story. An enigmatic gravity well that showcased centripetal scenes of heroism, hardlight, and hope. But the real secret is that Halo’s character lineup isn’t just made up of legendary super-soldiers, exotic aliens, or Lovecraftian hiveminds.
It’s made up of us. All of us.
Every player who has picked up a controller (even if your hands couldn’t quite fit around it) to save the galaxy or capture a flag with a friend. Every fan who couldn’t stop turning pages from the Fall of Reach to the Edge of Dawn. Every group who stayed and played together, whether the voices of your fireteam came from your house or your headset.
Here at the studio, we often remark how much we enjoy events like the Halo World Championship, Outpost Discovery, or Halo Fest because it brings all the stories of Halo together. It’s not just the release of the Flood, or the Covenant civil war, or the fracturing of Zeta Halo. It’s the couple who matchmade playing Halo back in college and are now introducing grenade jumps to their kids. It’s the siblings who stayed in touch despite distance thanks to Legendary co-op runs. It’s the hard luck and tough times made less insurmountable thanks to a universe—and a community—full of heroes eager to inspire.
2026 marks twenty-five years of Halo. That’s a quarter-century of stories millions have been sharing with each other. Because of that, it’s not just the Master Chief we want to celebrate. Or Cortana and Joyeuse, or Atriox and the Arbiter, or Dubbo and the Didact.
It’s you.
Today we’re kicking off a new series on Waypoint that will run the entire year highlighting your stories. We want to offer the chance to share what Halo means to you, so that you can better understand what you mean to Halo.
This has been a tiny piece of my own story, now let’s hear some of yours.
Party up, be excellent to each other, and someone please go make “Dubbo & the Didact” a real thing.
Jeff Easterling, Senior Franchise Story Lead, Halo Studios
Was the Split Screen Always That Small?
It was a day like any other, I remember it like yesterday.
After a long day at school I arrived at my grandparents house on a hot Australian summers day. Strangely the Sensation of the air conditioning hitting my face was second to the roar of laughter that hit me.
I wondered what the reason for the commotion was and it was all my uncles and cousins huddled around our family TV playing Halo: CE split screen on the Xbox. this was my first time seeing both Halo and an Xbox in general and from that moment onwards I was hooked.
The cool cyborg warriors, the explosive weapons, the glowing blood and perhaps most importantly the memories made with friends and family playing these games together. All of these things were amazing to me in my childhood and still are.
After Halo: CE it became routine that I would wait for my cousins to purchase each new game as they came out, the tradition of playing the game together in my family lounge would continue. Eventually I grew old enough to purchase my own game with my own console around Halo: Reach and I never skipped a game since.
Halo is a game that has shaped me as a person and an artist. I love creating fan art of the series for the community and it was a dream come true to work with Halo on some art in a official capacity last year.
When I attend LAN parties with friends these days I think of memories made with Halo throughout my life as I am hit with nostalgia. The artworks I have created and the friends I have made through said art have been life changing. I also think “was the split screen always that small” before I am swept away into countless matches of CTF and other endless game modes.
Soul_ant19
Growing Up With Halo
I discovered Halo at a very young age, at my grandparents’ house, with the first Xbox console. I remember spending hours in front of the screen, exploring that incredible ring-shaped world. Even as a child, I understood that I wasn’t just looking at a video game, but at the door to a completely different universe. As the years went by, I discovered my passion for graphic arts, and Halo became one of my greatest inspirations. I remember staying in the classroom drawing Master Chief, imagining if one day those sketches could become part of the franchise. I always felt accompanied by its stories of heroism, tragedy, and courage, told through characters that stayed with me forever. I drew with passion for many years, until in 2023 I had the opportunity to contribute to the development of official merchandise for the Halo World Championship, and in 2025 the great honor of designing an in-game emblem for Halo Infinite. For me, Halo means moving forward without giving up. Today, I can say it’s more than a feeling—it’s a fundamental part of my life. And I’m proud to celebrate this anniversary with all of you.
urielorteg_art
Forging A Community
Without Halo being the best franchise in the world, I never would have made so many incredible friends or have wanted to travel across the US to see them in Seattle. From 2 people in 2023, to 6 people in 2024, up to an amazing 13 in 2025, and we already have 10 planned for Halo Fest in 2026. Halo has been my favorite franchise since I learned of it back in 2010, and I can’t wait to see what comes next. To 25 years of Halo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kevx199
From One Fan To Another
Picking one favorite memory? Impossible. There are too many that mean so much—like playing Truth and Reconciliation at 3 a.m. with headphones on, solving ARG puzzles for Halo 4 and 5 until sunrise, and exploring Seattle with members of the Forerunner group after our meetup was canceled. Halo has been more than a game for me—it’s been a world I’ve lived in, an experience that’s shaped who I am. It’s brought incredible friends into my life, helped me land a job as a developer, and opened doors I never imagined I’d walk through. Looking back, I’m grateful not just for the memories and for being part of something so special, but for the chances I’ve had to give something back to the universe that gave me so much. To everyone who poured their heart into this world: thank you, from one fan to another.
stckrboy
Happy Birthday Halo
Halo invited me to celebrate their 25th birthday by sharing what Halo means to me 🩵
To me, Halo has always been about making lasting memories, whether it’s as Chief warthog running through exploding Halo rings, or as my own spartan battling through war games.
But Halo isn’t just about the game – it’s about the community that still stays strong and believes in Halo 25 years on.
My memories from Halo have allowed me to make art that hopefully brings a smile (or a tear) to your face as you remember those you used to play with or still play with to this day. And all this is only possible with the support of the best gaming community!
As Halo celebrates its 25th birthday, let’s all reflect on why we love the universe of Halo and remember to keep sharing the love for the game 🩵
Happy Birthday Halo 🎂
entransing
Ending Up Where I Started
I fell in love with Halo from a young age, watching my cousin play Halo 3 during Christmas 2007. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford an Xbox for years, so my only way to play Halo (outside of visiting people who owned an Xbox) was with the original PC version of Combat Evolved. I sunk countless hours in it for years until I could get an Xbox, and ever since then I’ve kept up to date with all of the games, novels, and comic books. Now, it’s 2026 and I’m back on PC, this time walking my dad through the series in co-op since could never play it on console. All that struggle to get an Xbox as a kid and here I am, playing Combat Evolved on Windows like I’m nine again. Funny how things work out sometimes…
Claytonomor999
My Life Is Halo
My Life is Halo, as I am now 23 Years old since I was born with Halo always being around. My father played CE when it first came out and ever since then I have played with him. As a kid I got every game right at release, even started collecting Halo Mega right when it came out and still to this day. I don’t have a day where I don’t listen to one of the soundtracks or don’t watch a YouTube video or don’t play one of the games. It is one of the constants in my life and I’m so happy to be apart of this community and Great Journey, and my hope for the future of Halo is bright. Thank you Halo
Coltbox
What Makes Halo Special
Mint Blitz
Discovery and Community
I discovered Halo with the 3rd on Xbox 360 with my brother, we played a lot offline because we were in a rural town. Then I played Halo 2 with my best friend at the time, Youri. It was two differents stories but i merged with a third. My passion for History. And I discovered the WikiHalo (FR) in 2011 and I begun to participate by adding all the Halo Bulletin, then I added stuffs on books and then… on everything. I found a sence of belonging and frienship among my peers on the WikiHalo. We did live on the Universe, Q&A, and now are doing a SlowRun Universe on the Games. Finally in 2024 we all met physically and it was really fun and engaging. I loved that and I love the passion that we have for this universe, going far beyond games, its a real transmedia adventure !
Lematth
Long Nights That Have Lasted Decades
There have been countless nights staying up late and playing Halo with friends. Talking about life, forming deep friendships, and all while playing everything from campaign to custom game lobbies that never seemed to end.
Outlet
The Greatest Journey
Halo has been a part of my life since I was first gifted an original Xbox with a copy of Halo CE and Halo 2, from there things would never been the same, I spent countless hours playing Halo 2’s campaign, Halo CE was the first game I ever beat, I felt pride and success, that was me at 7 years old, Now we are at the 25th anniversary of Halo I look back from the years to choose a favorite memory but there’s so many to pick from, whether it’s my first Xbox, or to late nights with my friends on Halo Reach saving up for the Mark VI helmet and getting the first dreaded red ring of death on my Xbox 360 to when I attended my first midnight release with Halo 4 securing the ever beautiful limited edition console, to make the many nights playing Halo 4 with my best friend, or the many many late nights on Halo 5 with so many friends in constant super fiesta matches in custom games, or to 2024 my first ever attendance of the HCS world championship, but if I had to truly pick it would have to be the meeting of someone special to me, a random night on Halo 5 with a friend group and a sudden spark to now I am engaged to my favorite person, we attended HCS WC both in 2024 and 2025 and we host our own Halo podcast called Durance Domain while we eagerly await Halo Fest 2026. 25 years millions of memories, thank you Halo forever.
MERCENARYxMASS
Playing Halo 2 For the First Time
Halo 2 was my first Halo game, my dad got it for me for my birthday and I remember playing it all the time non stop. I would always play on the mission where you play as the arbiter for the first time and listen to music like bring me to life on repeat as I killed heritcs. It was an awesome time and thanks to my dad I got into Halo. I wish he was here to see the remake of Halo CE. Halo means a lot to me and so does Halo 2.
Jdog4789
I Was Blinded By Its Majesty
Flashback to the year 2002. The Original Xbox had just launched in the UK for the first time and had been out for a month or two. It was around this time my brothers and I were able to get a new video game console. After being graciously granted this privilege by our parents, we were allowed to pick any console of our choice.
While deciding what to get, my older brother had told me tales of a legendary videogame he had played called Halo: Combat Evolved on a videogame system I had never heard of called an Xbox. He told was blown away by his limited time with the game and was convinced we needed to own this videogame which meant we had to get this Xbox.
Fast-forward a month or so and we were finally in a store where we would walk away with our shiny new videogame console. While looking at the options, my brother reminded and was finally able to show me the videogame that had blown him away earlier that year. It was on a large green and black demo kiosk of this mysterious Xbox console. It had a large selection of games but we found the Halo game and excitedly launched that demo. Just like my brother, I was completely blown away and had no idea videogames could even be like this let alone this good. We were immediately thrown onto the famous Silent Cartographer level with the music blaring, beautiful graphics, realistic and immersive voice acting and characters mixed with pulse pounding gameplay that I had never experienced in my life before. On top of that, we were able to play the entire experience together in splitscreen co-op. The ability to fight, explore, drive and experience this story world and characters for the first time was beyond amazing.
That experience is what sealed the purchase of the original Xbox for us and essentially made us lifelong Halo and Xbox fans. Here’s to the next generation of fans and hoping games like Halo: Campaign Evolved (and beyond) can do for them what Halo: Combat Evolved did for us so many years ago.
PlattnumXD
Experiencing Halo For The First Time
Hello! Demetrius from Greece here! All the way through the other end of our planet!. As Halo reaches its 25th anniversary and as we all look forward towards experiencing Halo Campaign Evolved, I would like to share my memory of experiencing Halo for the first time, with everyone of you, out there in the fight.
Unlike many before me, I started Halo quite late, at the age of 8 in 2009. I wasn’t able to get through the days of glory, like in 2001 or in 2004, and as a child going through negative but meaningful experiences, Halo quickly resonated with me when I first saw its menu and listened to its music, its very old themes back in Halo 3. Despite starting to play the games at a later period with the original Xbox (I had to do it right) and then continuing on with Halo: Reach, born in an Orthodox country too like Greece, it wasn’t surprising to me. Given that Halo revolves greatly around the Spartans (the nasty Super-soldiers, named after the Lacedaemonians of Ancient Greek Sparta) and its Christian-Gregorian vibe promoted greatly by Martin ‘O Donnell and Michael Salvatori, Halo by itself at its core, is a legendary craft. And I would like to share my gratitude and love towards all those whom worked on it, from Bungie, to 343 and now Halo Studios. As a Greek it is really an honor to experience these games and its universe and truly an honor to carry out the heroic legacy left behind by the Ancient Spartans. For all of you out there, struggling in these hard times, I would like to remind you to never forget, never abandon yourselves, to stay positive and most importantly remember that Halo will never abandon you, no matter how dark and difficult it may get. To all of you out there developers and companions in battle I wish you all a happy 25th Anniversary! And stay safe planetside! Spartan Icarus out.
Icarus SIV
My Journey Thus Far
My first stepfather was a lot of things, most of them not good, but by far the best thing he ever did for me was introduce me to Halo. Halo Combat Evolved was one of the first games I ever played, only second to Pokémon Leafgreen. I remember he and I would sit out in the living room, trying to beat Combat Evolved on Legendary. This was 2006, so Halo 2 was already out, and once we bought a copy we did our first playthrough together. Halo 3 came out in 2007, and same thing, as was with Reach, and 4. When my mom and I finally split from him, I was given something to take my mind off everything: MCC (when it worked, no hate!), and then Halo 5 a few years later, and I’m genuinely tired of hiding the fact I love Halo 5. Its not perfect, the story has issues, but its special to me as the first Halo game I bought with my own money, and the one I’ve sunk by far the most time into multiplayer. Infinite has been a bit of a rollarcoaster, but im overall happy with it, and will continue to love this franchise. I may not agree with everything Bungie, 343i, and now Halo Studios is doing/have done, but that’s alright! At the end of the day, Halo brings us all together, and that’s what matters!
AlsoHaloStudiosHaloWars3When?!
SapphireDF2020
My Journey To Memories
It start with just me watching my brother and his two friends play halo. (Because I was not cool enough to play with them.) It quickly turned into a obsession. I would sneak into his room when he was gone and start playing and just a few minutes would turn hours just like that. I fell in love with the story, the artwork, and the action of it all and I just had to get more of it. I worked my but off the get my very own console and just like that I had to get all the Halo games. The years went by and I have still never played a game that swept me off my feet like that game. The multiplayer to the campaign it’s all home to me. A lot of people have that smell or that feeling or that moment that brings them back to their childhood, I have Halo. No matter how old I am I will always come back to Halo and one day when my baby is grown I will pass it all down to him so he can see the perfect game to stand the test of time… HALO
Xxtrashpandax7
Half Of My Life Has Been Halo
Getting this out of the way early. Im 43 years old, Halo has officially been a part of my life since I was 20 years old. I still remember the first time I played it, not knowing then how much of an impact this guy in a green suit would influence the next 25 years.
Back when Xbox was first released we couldn’t afford an Xbox console. My mate and I had just moved to Australia and really wanted to try this new Xbox console that everyone was talking about. So, we hired the console from blockbuster with Project Gotham Racing and this other game called Halo.
The next 24 hours was filled with laughter and exploration as we drove around together in the Warthog trying to crash into whatever grunt we could find. I was hooked, for the next 25 years every Halo release I would take a week off work, finish the campaign then spend the next years of each iteration’s cycle in multiplayer.
Halo was there when my son was born, he’s 18 now and loves Halo as much as I do. Halo was there when I was recovering from a brain injury, it kept me sane and in some way subconsciously chiefs character motivated me to get better and keep pushing back to normality. It’s introduced me to one of my best friends online Sal Salerno (halofanforlife) who is like a brother.
Halo has given something for me to look forward to, its given me additional purpose and some thing to strive for. To me Halo will always be what made me fall in love with Xbox, sci-fi and gaming. Halo is in my blood and a part of my DNA. Forever.
Thank you Halo, congratulations on 25 years and here’s to 25 more!
Kombatant1
Your stories have been inspiring, humbling and full of heart, reminding us that Halo is what it is because of our community.
For those of you who would like to join in the sharing, feel free to post them online using #Halo25Together or by submitting your story directly to us.
We’ll see you next month for the next installment!