When does Halo Wars 2 take place? Here's what we know

Nicholas James Published 14/04/2022

The second outing for Halo RTS series Halo Wars takes place many years out from the original Halo game, but when exactly does Halo Wars 2 take place?

Halo Wars 2 follows the story of the UNSC Spirit of Fire and introduces the Banished faction, who would go on to be the central antagonists in Halo Infinite. The game follows the crew of the Spirit of Fire, which has been declared Lost With All Hands after being set adrift in space for 28 years. The game begins with the Spirit of Fire finding itself at the Ark, a Forerunner Installation that can create Halo rings.

When does Halo Wars 2 take place?

Halo Wars takes place in the year 2559, 28 years after the events of the first Halo Wars game and in the immediate aftermath of Halo 5: Guardians. The crew awakes from cryogenic sleep with no shipboard AI and in an unknown universe. In the time between the first game and its sequel, the Halo universe evolves in many ways.

What happens in Halo Wars 2?

By the time the Spirit of Fire finds itself at the Ark, the war between the Covenant and Humanity has ended after the death of the Prophets. The crew of the Spirit of Fire are unaware of this development as Halo Wars 2 begins and investigates a UNSC signal coming from the surface of the Ark. This turns out to be a UNSC AI named Isabel, who relays that a Covenant splinter force called the Banished led by a Brute named Atriox have taken over the Ark.

Through a series of conflicts with the Banished, the UNSC forces use the ark to create a Halo ring for the purposes of slip-space travel. The ship’s professor goes with it to try and aid the Spirit of Fire in being able to navigate back to UNSC territory from their unknown position. In a post-credits scene, the Halo ring is halted by the appearance of a Forerunner Guardian.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

View full profile

Read Also

Kick

Kick Admits KPP Payment Errors — Ethan Wright Explains Calculation Changes Khizar Mundia Kick creators have been claiming that something is wrong with their KPP payouts for some time now. Co-founder Eddie Craven and Director Ethan Wright both addressed the issues, blaming technical difficulties and stating the issue would be rectified, but creators have continued to allege that it hasn’t been fixed — and Wright has now given an update about KPP changes that he hopes will put the issue to bed. In ...

News

How Good Will Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Be? Zachary Roberts The Nintendo Switch run of games has been excellent by most metrics, but there are some things they haven't managed to do better than in previous attempts. Since 2017, Nintendo has put out a ton of outstanding games. They've won awards, and the Switch is the second-best-selling console ever; it may even end up in first eventually. That said, there are some things that have been replicated for the Switch ...

News

Kalshi Strikes Deal With Tunica-Biloxi Tribe Emma Somersett-MacMillan The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe from Louisiana is joining the rapidly growing prediction market industry. They have formed a new partnership with Kalshi, and this has enabled it to be the first Native American tribe to introduce its own prediction market platform via the company’s framework. This was announced on September 18, 2026, during a time when several other tribes are questioning the growth and development of Kalshi. They object to this ...

Kick

Kick Offers Viewers More Visibility in Chats — Here’s How the New KICKs Pinned Messages Work Khizar Mundia 2026 has been a stellar year for Kick users, with the brand investing substantially in very visible updates. The livestreaming platform has now introduced another new option where Kick viewers can use KICKs to pin and highlight their messages in chats. Twitch and Kick have several similarities, which makes sense given that the Stake-backed platform launched as a competitor to the Amazon-backed giant. Bits are a common method for viewers ...

Valorant

Will zekken Leave MIBR in 2026? Hannan Mundia Competitive Valorant has given rise to multiple talented professional players, but zekken stands as a powerful fragger even among them. While his glory days were definitely when he was on Sentinels during their iconic run, the player is now part of MIBR, which promised to create a super team. Unfortunately for zekken, the team has fallen short of that promise. With a disappointing 2026 season, rumors have started that zekken ...

News

What are Card Rips? The New Way to Trade Collectibles Explained Ben Boland Card rips are a new form of digital pack opening in which users can reveal physical trading cards and choose to sell, store or have them shipped to them. They are attracting serious interest among sweepstakes players. Currently, most card rip sites are separate from online casinos. However, some sweepstakes sites have foreseen the potential popularity of this form of this type of product and are offering their users the ...

Twitch

KSI Hints at Falling Out With at Least “Some” Sidemen Khizar Mundia Olajide “KSI” Olayinka Williams Olatunji was arguably the largest name attached to Sidemen, and now that he's left the collective, it appears some of the members are no longer his friends. KSI’s exit from Sidemen was the end of an era. He and the boys were renowned for fun whilst creating good memories and building a massive following. When KSI left in May 2026, he'd stated that he was on ...