14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just confirmed that its recently launched Halo 4 first-person shooter has raked in around $220 million (€173 million) in its first 24 hours of availability and is on set to reach over $300 million (€236 million) in global sales in its first week.
Halo 4 was eagerly awaited by millions of fans from all over the world as practically all of them wanted to see what new adventures the franchise’s protagonist – Master Chief – will go on in the fresh title.
Now, in order to confirm what many already expected, Microsoft has revealed that Halo 4 is the biggest entertainment launch of the year, earning more than $220 million worldwide, dwarfing even big movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 or The Avengers.
According to the company, Halo 4 is on track to reach $300 million in sales in its first week, making it the biggest Halo game in the franchise’s history.
“The launch of Halo 4 propelled lifetime sales for the “Halo” franchise beyond $3.38 billion, cementing its status as one of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world,” Microsoft said in a statement, via Major Nelson.
“Halo 4 also shattered the record for the largest number of players in the history of the Halo franchise, with over 4 million players in the first five days. Users spent a total of 31.4 million hours playing Halo 4, pushing the total number of gameplay hours across the Halo franchise well beyond the five billion mark.”
The special Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn live action web series also attracted tens of millions of fans, as the prequel’s five episodes have accumulated over 46 million views to date.
“We’re thrilled that ‘Halo 4’ has emerged as the biggest U.S. entertainment launch of the year,” said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios.
“Thanks to the millions of fans worldwide who helped make this another record-breaking launch for the ‘Halo’ franchise, ‘Halo 4’ is kicking off a strong holiday season and has become the must-have blockbuster experience of the year.”
Halo 4 will no doubt set some records, but don’t forget that Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is out today and will certainly dwarf the figures set by Microsoft’s game since it comes out not just on the Xbox 360 but also on the PC, PS3, or Nintendo Wii U.