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9:38 PM on 09.26.2007

46 comments
Halo 3 makes $170 Million in the US on first day sales
Hamza CTZ Aziz

Halo 3 makes $170 Million in the US on first day sales screenshot

Looks like Microsoft called it -- they topped Spider-Man 3's sales. Hell, they topped a lot of things, but can you honestly be surprised by this news? Halo 3 has become the biggest selling item in US entertainment history.

"Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Not only is "Halo 3" setting sales records, it's also redefining entertainment.

Looking back at everything, it's hard to imagine that Microsoft bought Bungie for only $50 million.

One can only imagine whats the next big game will be now that the trilogy is over. Whatever it will be, it's going to have to have a really good multiplayer aspect. How good? Good enough to have nearly five million matches, 1.2 million playing the co-op and about 403 million enemies killed all within the first 24 hours of the games release. It's going to be interesting to see the spike in Gold accounts sales over the next week or so (after the Best Buy promotion is over and the free 48 hours of live that came with the standard edition of the game are used up of course). 

Also, if you're interested in seeing constantly updated stats of say, how many Grunts have been killed, Scarabs destroyed, Flood creatures killed and pretty much every single kill stat there is, then head on over to Bungie. They also have a real time world map showing where the Halos are being played. It looks like only one person in Africa is playing at this moment. 

Hit the jump for the full press release on the Halo 3 record breaking sales figures. 

Xbox 360 Exclusive "Halo 3" Registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment History

 with $170 Million in Sales

 

Microsoft today announced that the Xbox 360 exclusive game "Halo 3" has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like "Spider-man 3" and novels such as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

 

"Halo 3" is the conclusion to the epic trilogy and picks up where "Halo 2" left off, answering questions around the fates of the beloved protagonist Master Chief and his artificial intelligence sidekick Cortana as they struggle to save humankind from destruction at the hands of the alien coalition known as the Covenant. In addition to the rich storyline, "Halo 3" continues the franchise's grand tradition of delivering innovative online multiplayer experiences via Xbox LIVE, the world's largest social network on TV.

 

"Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Not only is "Halo 3" setting sales records, it's also redefining entertainment. 

Within the first 20 hours alone, we've seen more than a million Xbox LIVE members come online to play Halo 3 – that makes September 25 the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history."

 

Retailers have also expressed their excitement about the launch of "Halo 3." 

 

Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop Corp commented that, "With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop's history."

 

"The initial demand we've seen for 'Halo 3' has been astounding, and the game is on track to become the number one gaming title of all time.  'Halo 3' is a genuine entertainment phenomenon and our customers have responded very enthusiastically to the release," said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy.

 

Developed by Bungie Studios, the "Halo" franchise is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and optimized for the Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network. The more than 7 million Xbox LIVE users will get a continually evolving gaming experience with "Halo 3." Its online multiplayer and cooperative gameplay for Xbox LIVE Gold users, the much-talked-about Saved Films feature that enables players to capture and save their favorite moments on their hard drives, and Forge, an innovative map editor that enables infinite customization options are just some of the new features to experience.

 

More than 10,000 retailers hosted Midnight Madness events to celebrate the launch of this third installment in the billion-dollar franchise. In New York, Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles, Microsoft and retail partners hosted marquee launch events that featured contests and appearances by local celebrities and professional athletes who are fanatical about the "Halo" franchise, including Ludacris and Zac Efron and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. 

 

More than 1.7 million copies of "Halo 3" were preordered in the United States before a single store opened its doors at midnight, Sept. 25, making this the fasting pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of "Halo 2." Well beyond just a U.S. phenomenon, the launch of "Halo 3" was a worldwide celebration that released in 37 countries and available in 17 languages.

[Special thanks to Grim for the back up] 



MORE IN OUR Xbox Live SECTION

Latest comment by Fading_Star |view all 46 comments
Bill, may I please have some money? You're rich enough DAMNIT! I thought that Halo 3 would beat Halo 2's opening day gross. Sweet....



Excremento's Avatar
Excremento at 09/26/2007 21:36

Just to think that $200 of that is mine...
Calla's Avatar
Calla at 09/26/2007 21:38

too bad the viva pinata sequel, is going to double this single-day total... easily.
Tron Knotts's Avatar
Tron Knotts at 09/26/2007 21:41

Dear Nintendo,

See?

Hearts,

Tron Knotts
NSNick's Avatar
NSNick at 09/26/2007 21:44

We did like $50k in sales at my store over the past two days.

Our daily average? $1-2k.
HawtPawkitHero's Avatar
HawtPawkitHero at 09/26/2007 21:44

I should be surprised?
Well it IS better than Bioshock... WHAT?
CannibalCalvin 's Avatar
CannibalCalvin at 09/26/2007 21:46

zomg, monies out the wazoo
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 09/26/2007 21:47

Jesus christ.
braulio09's Avatar
braulio09 at 09/26/2007 21:47

wow...to think i have the game and haven't touched it

damn j00 blue dragon, skate, and eternal sonata
Lightthrower's Avatar
Lightthrower at 09/26/2007 21:49

"The initial demand we've seen for 'Halo 3' has been astounding, and the game is on track to become the number one gaming title of all time."

Bullllllshit
lem's Avatar
lem at 09/26/2007 21:50

I didn't think Africa was allowed to have Xbox Live yet?
SpencersGifts's Avatar
SpencersGifts at 09/26/2007 21:55

What i dont understand is the fuckers floating in the ocean playing this game haha whats up with that? airplane? submarine? little mermaid??? you be the judge
Remz's Avatar
Remz at 09/26/2007 22:02

@Lightthrower You're kidding, right?

I mean check it, even those submarine motherfuckers are playing this on live. 8) http://www.bungie.net/online/default.aspx
Detry's Avatar
Detry at 09/26/2007 22:05

My fucking game disk is cracked. I know when I take it back tomorrow they will be sold out.

Shit.
Novalon's Avatar
Novalon at 09/26/2007 22:06

I just finished the fight in my pants.
bmaupin's Avatar
bmaupin at 09/26/2007 22:07

When it starts costing $60 to get into a movie or to buy a CD, then they can brag, until then, I'll go by units sold.
Lightthrower's Avatar
Lightthrower at 09/26/2007 22:07

@Remz

So you'd say Halo 3 would be better than Super Mario 64, all the Final Fantasy any Zelda etc etc.

Even if everyone is playing the game, it does not mean in any way that it is the best game of all time. Look at World of Warcraft, it has 9 million users! Is it the best game of all time? Of course not.
topFAPgearFAPgorillaFAP's Avatar
topFAPgearFAPgorillaFAP at 09/26/2007 22:14

Your mom made $170 million in sales on her first night on the street.


DO YOU GET IT???! HAHA!
Quix's Avatar
Quix at 09/26/2007 22:20

Yay! Only *$830 million* to go and Microsoft can cover its repair costs on all its crappy dying consoles...
Remz's Avatar
Remz at 09/26/2007 22:33

Number one... in sales. Not quality. 8) It's got a niinth of WoWs userbase in one day. In the US.

Besides, the only good FF was FF6 and Twilight Princess was lame. And you know... none of those games anything in common with Halo 3's strong multiplayer approach. Atleast compare it to a shooter of some sort. It's rather hard to compare the merits of an RPG to a shooter, no?
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 09/26/2007 22:35

Haha, very true Quix.
Lightthrower's Avatar
Lightthrower at 09/26/2007 22:39

You still don't get it Remz, the guy said and i quote again "...game is on track to become the number one gaming title of all time." This means that the guy means every genre of videogames.

He could've just said instead "...game is on track to become the number one BEST SELLING gaming title of all time.", but he did not because he knows nothing about videogames. He only sees sales and wow that must mean it's TAH BEST EVAR!!111
Lightthrower's Avatar
Lightthrower at 09/26/2007 22:45

Oh and Remz if you truly support your claim of "Number one... in sales. Not quality.", i'd like to remind you that Super Mario Brothers (the original) sold 40.23 million copies. Tetris sold 33 million copies. Halo 3 will never beat these numbers, there's not even enough consoles to beat those games!
Remz's Avatar
Remz at 09/26/2007 22:45

Lightthrower, Lightthrower... These people only see in numbers man! In their eyes, if it sells heaps, to them It is the greatest game ever. What dicks.

I'll fight for Halo 3 being the best multiplayer FPS though. Fuckin' awesome online setup Bungie have got going there.
Remz's Avatar
Remz at 09/26/2007 22:46

I didn't even have to remember any codes to add my friends! amazing!
Zoex's Avatar
Zoex at 09/26/2007 22:46

Just gona throw this out there, anyone that liked Halo 2 sucked at Halo 1. They generalised it, for the masses.

I'm say the generalised this even more for, there for it sucks that much more ass then Halo 2.
Zoex's Avatar
Zoex at 09/26/2007 22:47

I'ma* *for* typos, ugh.
Lightthrower's Avatar
Lightthrower at 09/26/2007 22:48

Remz i agree with you on that one, Nintendo sucks balls when it comes to multiplayer.
Hoygeit's Avatar
Hoygeit at 09/26/2007 22:52

THAT IS RIDICULOUS.

Definitely great news for Bungie as it'll help draw more interest in something they've worked so hard on.

(I'm also have a blast with the game)
Upgrayedd's Avatar
Upgrayedd at 09/26/2007 22:55

Chuggin' and chargin' bitches, Chuggin' and chargin'!
madninja's Avatar
madninja at 09/26/2007 23:18

It is so weird when I talk to people who don't play games and they mention Halo 3. It is so weird it is like a new movie.
liqideos's Avatar
liqideos at 09/27/2007 02:19

So like...for the people that have finished the game...as I have...ummm....what the hell?
KnuxSonic's Avatar
KnuxSonic at 09/27/2007 03:48

@liqideos

Yeah. A decent ending? WTF?!
vexed alex's Avatar
vexed alex at 09/27/2007 04:05

@ Lightthrower

Final Fantasy sucks and you have an anime avatar, shut the fuck up!

No, I jest. Sort of. I say Final Fantasy is boring loner gaming, but that's just me. Turn based RPGs are gay. It's all about action RPGs, baby.
Nyteshade's Avatar
Nyteshade at 09/27/2007 04:16

"Spidey's third outing will probably bring in $1.366 billion in revenue for Sony.

Master Chief's take-home pay isn't expected to be as lucrative. The game may sell as many as 10 million copies at an average retail price of $70 for a total of $700 million in sales, said Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets. Of that, Microsoft will get about 80%, or $560 million."
Source


Look... I'm all for a rise in video game sales and market penetration, but you can't brag because you beat movie sales... Not to mention it's a much bigger deal to get a game on release day than to see a movie.

Compare $60-120 a pop for Halo 3 to ~$10 a pop for a Spider Man 3 ticket, or $20-30 for the DVD... Apples and oranges much?
liqideos's Avatar
liqideos at 09/27/2007 04:17

@knuxsonic

Yeah...so when the thank you message popped up, I didn't realize the credits were about to roll.

...I went back and finished that last sequence again, and waited...the ending was very tasteful, and a good way to wrap up this chapter.

The game has it's wow moments. The dual Scarab fight was my favorite by far.
Frozenjoker's Avatar
Frozenjoker at 09/27/2007 05:07

Wow Russia Really Doesnt like tweh Haloz. At least, not on live..
liqideos's Avatar
liqideos at 09/27/2007 06:25

Hey...I know I wasn't alone when I bought a fuck ton of Spiderman merchandise around the time the movie coming out...so don't trot out the 10 dollar ticket price when Toys R Us was coated in S3 merchandise.

The toy market for video games is still lame at best, with Todd McFarlane controlling the market with nothing but collectors items that are merely show pieces.

We can start getting nuts when we have replica laser swords next to my power ranger toys at TRU.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 09/27/2007 06:29

SMB3 is the best selling game of all time, it has had plenty of time to be dethroned. I don't think it will be unless the 360 has a 10 year life cycle and nothing more famous comes out for it.

Even if everyone who saw spiderman 3 also buys the dvd, it still won't account for the price of one Halo3 disk.
DGX Goggles's Avatar
DGX Goggles at 09/27/2007 09:06

Haha, people in Japan are actually playing Halo 3, now THAT is real success.
MechaMonkey's Avatar
MechaMonkey at 09/27/2007 09:44

To Halo haters,

Terrible games don't make this much money. Stop thinking your opinion is the only one out there.

Love and kisses,

MechaMonkey
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 09/27/2007 10:27

I know one person in IRC, forgot who, refused to to buy this near launch because they did not want to contribute to this number. To them, I say "good job."
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 09/27/2007 14:02

Well, the game certainly deserves it. I tore through it at a friend's house on 4-man co-op, and it's truly an amazing game - campaign, multiplayer, and all. I've never had so much fun gaming socially. I realize it's not the best thing since Jesus, but this game is truly a triumph and it deserves what it's gotten. Fuck the "haters." In the ass.
Commodore624's Avatar
Commodore624 at 09/27/2007 20:28

im gonna have to agree Sharpless with this one the game has its righs to its name it may not be the best. but stop being pissed at it for just being halo i know people just like you you hear the word halo and go nuts it has amazing single player, multi player, sound and graphics yes i have it and yes i went to the midnight opening and i was prolly the first in all of NH to get it i don't care if i may be amazing =].
Fading_Star's Avatar
Fading_Star at 09/28/2007 01:43

Bill, may I please have some money? You're rich enough DAMNIT! I thought that Halo 3 would beat Halo 2's opening day gross. Sweet.

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