Halo 2The latest main game, Halo Infinite, was released in 2021. Combat Evolved started life as a real-time strategy game, then became a third-person shooter, and finally a first-person shooter releasing as an exclusive on Microsoft's new Xbox video game console after Bungie was acquired by the company. Bungie regained its independence in 2007, releasing additional Halo games through 2010. Microsoft established 343 Industries to direct the franchise going forward, and has produced games itself and in partnership with other studios. Combat Evolved was a critical and commercial success, serving as the Xbox's "killer app" and cementing Microsoft as a major player in the video game console space. With more than $6 billion in franchise grosses, Halo is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, spanning novels, graphic novels, comic books, short films, animated films, feature films, and other licensed products . From the video game Halo 3, 2007. However, instead of helping their pets, it eventually infected and contorted them 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 then to a primitive civilisation based in Africa, and fought the Flood, which spread through an infestation of sentient life and had overrun 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. Nearly a hundred thousand years later in the 26th century, humanity—under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC—colonized many worlds thanks to the development of faster-than-light "slipstream space" (i.e. hyperspace) travel. In the year 2525, human worlds come under attack by an 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. After the Covenant invaded Reach, 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 set the humans against the Covenant, who believed they were instruments of transcendence, not destruction. Master Chief and his artificial intelligence Cortana were instrumental in the destruction of a Halo ring to stop the Covenant and the threat of the Flood. Master Chief defeats the Prophet of Regret leading to the Prophets of Truth and Mercy denouncing the Sangheili as the most honourable species amongst the Covenant. The disgraced former Covenant Sangheili commander known as the Arbiter, along with the rest of his race, helped the humans destroy the Covenant and stop the Prophet of Truth from activating the Halo Array via the Ark. The Human-Covenant War ended, though new conflicts begin to emerge throughout the universe. The Master Chief and Cortana accidentally free the Didact and he briefly returns to assert supremacy over humanity, though he is foiled by the pair, resulting in Master Chief initially believing Cortana 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. After two years of a scattered war between Cortana and the UNSC, Cortana attacks the Banished, a mercenary organization largely led by the Jiralhanae race. The Banished win the resultant conflict, terminating Cortana and battle the UNSC for control of Zeta Halo. Video game developer Bungie was founded in 1991 by Alex Seropian in Chicago, Illinois, who partnered with programmer Jason Jones to market and release Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Focusing on the Macintosh game market because it was smaller and easier to compete, Bungie became a preeminent game developer on the small Apple Macintosh platform. What became Halo: Combat Evolved started as a real-time strategy game for the Mac, originally code-named Monkey Nuts and Blam!, and took place on a hollowed-out world called Solipsis. The game morphed from a real-time strategy game into a third-person action game. On June 19, 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie and Halo: Combat Evolved became a launch title for the Xbox video game console. The game turned into a first-person shooter, and was modified to work with a controller. Though the first Halo was meant to include an online multiplayer mode, it was excluded because the Xbox Live service was not yet available. Halo was not intended to be the Xbox's flagship game due to internal concerns and gaming press criticism, but Microsoft VP of game publishing Ed Fries did not act on these concerns. The Xbox's marketing heavily featured Halo, whose green color palette meshed with the console's design scheme. Halo: Combat Evolved introduced many gameplay and plot themes common to the whole trilogy. Players battle various aliens on foot and in vehicles to complete objectives, while attempting to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo. Bungie referred to the "weapons-grenades-melee" format as the "Golden Triangle of Halo ". Released for the Xbox in November 2001, Windows and Mac OS X ports were later developed by Gearbox Software, and released in 2003. The success of the game led to a sequel, Halo 2, which was announced on August 8, 2002, at Microsoft's X02 press event. It featured improved graphics, new weapons and enemies, and a multiplayer mode on Xbox Live. Halo 2 was released on the Xbox on November 9, 2004, and later for Windows Vista on May 17, 2007. The game was released in two different editions: a standard edition with just the game disc and traditional Xbox packaging; and the Collector's Edition with a specially designed aluminum case, along with an additional bonus DVD, extra booklet, and slightly different user manual. Halo 2 introduced new gameplay elements, chief among them the ability to hold and fire two weapons simultaneously, known as "dual-wielding". Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 fully supported online multiplayer via Xbox LIVE.