The Halo TV series was a big swing for Paramount+, but the show never managed to pick up and was canceled after two seasons.
Fast forward to 2025, though; Halo comes out on Netflix and is now a huge hit with viewers. Who would have thought it?
Halo’s Renewed Interest
According to ScreenRant, Halo arrived on Netflix this March and has managed to amass huge viewership with 32.1 million viewing hours from 4.2 million viewers. The series has also debuted at No. 4 on Netflix’s Top 10 list; other shows that managed to do better numbers than Halo were originals Toxic Town, Zero Day, and Running Point.
Though the series was canceled last year, some fans of the show are hoping that Netflix will be willing to pick it up for the following season. Then again, the series is known to have very high production value, and with Netflix recently canceling a bunch of series, it’s possible that they may not want to cash out for a series like Halo.
Critical Reception
Before its debut in 2022, Halo was in Development Hell for a few years, with some attempts being made to try and bring it to the big screen. The series eventually moved forward at Paramount+ with lead Pablo Schreiber (American Gods) playing protagonist Master Chief, but it wasn’t met with the warmest of reviews.
Regarding the fandom, there are two camps for the Halo series. One camp of gamers hates all the changes made to the original story and thinks it pales compared to the games. The other camp that hasn’t played the games is OK with the series and praised it for its original direction.
Despite this, Halo couldn’t generate enough buzz and subscribers for Paramount+, which resulted in the series being canceled after two years. Interestingly enough, with the series coming out on Netflix, it looks like the Halo series has finally managed to reach its core audience; the real issue was that nobody wanted to subscribe to Paramount+ for it.
The Future of Halo
For now, Halo remains one of the most iconic game franchises in pop culture, and everyone can tell from a mile away if someone is cosplaying Master Chief in Spartan armor.
On the game side, though, things have been in a lull, and the series didn’t manage to bring in a new fandom as expected.
That being said, the success of the series on Netflix could lead to a new interest in the games. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners brought Cyberpunk 2077 back to life when it came out. Who's to say that Halo won’t be able to do the same for the games now that it’s suddenly become popular?
Who knows, a series may be too expensive to produce, but Netflix could be willing to drop some big money for an entire movie. If they managed to spend 300 million (allegedly) on a new property like The Electric State, maybe they would find it easier to throw money at a years-long established franchise like Halo.
Two seasons of Halo are now streaming on Netflix.