Halo 3 is one of the most marketed games in the history of gaming and those efforts by Microsoft have started to earn them sweet rewards! They have announced that 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.
Shane Kim, Corporate VP, Microsoft Game Studios says, “Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon. Not only is “Halo 3” setting sales records, it’s also redefining entertainment. Within the first 20 hours alone, we have seen above a million Xbox LIVE members come online to play Halo 3, which makes September 25 the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.”
Bob McKenzie is the senior VP of merchandising for GameStop Corp. He says, “With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop’s history.”
Jill Hamburger, VP, Movies & Games, Best Buy stated, “The initial demand we have seen for ‘Halo 3’ has been astonishing, and the game is on track to turn into the number one gaming title of all time. ‘Halo 3’ is an authentic entertainment phenomenon and our customers have responded very enthusiastically to the release.”
Halo 3 has beaten earlier records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like Spider-man 3 and novels such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The game has been launched in available in 17 languages in 37 countries. In fact, more than 1.7 million copies of “Halo 3” were preordered in the United States.