New science-fiction television series Halo premiered on streaming service Paramount+ last Thursday and is based on the video game franchise of the same name. The central story of the video game franchise revolves around enhanced super soldier John-117 ”Master Chief'' and his artificial intelligence companion Cortana. The story, set in the 26th century, follows a war between humanity and an alliance of alien races known as the Covenant.
The story in the television series follows the same premise but takes place in a timeline separate from the video game franchise. According to the show’s creators, this choice was made to suit the television medium better.
Both critics and viewers alike so far give the series an average rating. At the moment, the first season holds a 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series has been criticized as derivative of other science-fiction series but praised for its faithfulness to the source material. While reviews have been mixed, the viewership numbers are definitely nothing to be ashamed of. The first episode set a new record for Paramount+, as the streaming service´s most watched series premiered globally in the first 24 hours.
Paramount+ has not yet revealed the exact numbers but considering the previous viewership record for the streaming service, set by 1883 with 4,9 million viewers in the first 24 hours, it is safe to assume that Halo's first episodelikely had over 5 million viewers.
