Microsoft has announced that first day sales of the long-anticipated video game Halo 3 exceeded $170,000,000–making its release the most lucrative entertainment release in history.
Confirming the expectations of many industry pundits, Microsoft announced today that its flagship Xbox 360 shooter Halo 3 had the biggest entertainment launch in history, generating a record-breaking $170m in the United States on its Tuesday debut.
Halo 3’s launch day sales total eclipses prior record-holder Spider-Man 3, which produced $151m in revenue over its opening weekend in May 2007. Retailing at between $59.99 and $129.99, depending on how many extra gewgaws you like to get with your games, one sale of Halo 3 generates considerably more revenue than a movie ticket, making direct comparisons problematic. Microsoft isn’t letting that stop them, though — especially since Spider-Man’s numbers represent three days of sales next to Halo’s one.
If you assume that the average price paid for a copy of Halo 3 is $60, that represents close to 3 million units sold on the first day, which is definitely impressive by any stretch of the imagination. Personally, I’ve never played any of the Halo games (nor do I own an XBox, for that matter), but I definitely can’t knock Microsoft’s and Bungee’s achievement here. That’s just impressive.
