Halo Wars is a
real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by
Ensemble Studios and published by
Microsoft Game Studios for the
Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009; in Europe on February 27; and in North America on March 3. The game is set in the science fiction universe of the
Halo series in the year 2531, 21 years before the events of . The player leads human soldiers aboard the warship
Spirit of Fire in an effort to stop an ancient fleet of ships from falling into the hands of the genocidal alien
Covenant.