Halo 3's first-day US haul = $170M

Microsoft announces that its 360-exclusive shooter is now "the biggest entertainment launch in [American] history" following a banner 24 hours at retail.

Thought the Halo 3 hype onslaught was over? Think again. After promising that the Xbox 360 exclusive's first-day launch would be huge, the software giant wasted little time in saying so. Today, the company announced that by its estimates, first-day sales of Halo 3 totaled $170 million in the US alone, $45 million more than Halo 2's 2004 debut.

The staggering figure presumably came from Microsoft's internal estimates, as it did not name a source for the data. Microsoft reps also had not clarified whether or not the figure was solely at physical retail stores or also included sales of the game from online retailers. "We only know the number is $170 million," said a rep.

If proven accurate when the NPD Group releases its sales figures next month, the number would give Halo 3 the honor of having generated more money in 24 hours than any other American entertainment property ever. The $170 million haul would also best Spider-Man 3's $151 million domestic theatrical opening weekend and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' first-day US sales of an estimated 8.3 million copies at a range of price points. (At the book's full hardcover price of $34.95, that number would have generated $290 million.)

Not so shockingly, Microsoft executives were pleased with Halo 3's performance. Throwing modesty to the wind, Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Shane Kim proclaimed, "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."

882 Comments

  • Merc1319

    Posted May 27, 2008 6:59 am PT

    its funny how so many 360 games recieve critical, universal acclaim (halo 3, GOW, bioshock, mass effect etc.) and STILL sony fanboy$ moan about them being crap.

    if your a neutral, who are you going to believe?

  • brar45

    Posted Dec 23, 2007 2:21 am PT

    it's they end of the world, Bill Gates can now take over world lol!!!!!!!!!!! ILOVE HALO 3

  • ODST_Shade

    Posted Dec 21, 2007 11:48 am PT

    Damn I should have put some stocks in Microsoft when Halo 3 came out! Begone unclothly fanboys, begone I say!

  • rose_please

    Posted Nov 19, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    lol ya

  • Autobon

    Posted Nov 19, 2007 11:52 am PT

    funny to see all the xbox haters on this forum. Sigh...... Go away fanboys.

  • Hot_Rocks

    Posted Oct 5, 2007 4:02 pm PT

    I agree with KWHCoaster, the sales were in pre buys not that 170 million was spent on release day. plus they spent 10 million just to push the game when really all they had to do was say hey game in stores on this date on this site etc. all this burger king stuff etc was is a waste of time

  • rob1101

    Posted Oct 5, 2007 12:30 pm PT

    starcraft II

  • KWHCoaster

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 11:48 pm PT

    Sales to retailers perhaps. To end-users, doubtful. Creative accounting / marketing at work.

    The BestBuy at Bay & Dundas in Toronto must have ~1000 copies of regular and ~300-400 of the limited in their cage. And the nearby HMV and Futureshop have lots laying around. And I have yet to see anyone fondling a Halo 3 game or helmet or standing in line at the checkout. Then there is all the gimmicky Halo 3 headsets and controllers all over the place. Again, haven't seen anyone buying any of it.

    Kudos to M$ for generating so much Halo hype and suckering the retailers into committing to take that much for inventory.

  • mrfrieze

    Posted Oct 4, 2007 2:22 pm PT

    Maroifan22. I belive you have no Idea what your talking about. Death to the ps3? Your just being a fanboy. Oh did you say quality and Microsoft in the same sentence? That's funny.-------------------- Yet again the story of halo... well sucked. The AI of your Marines is terrible. The last boss was a huge let down, they should have enlisted square to help with the cut scenes. They are really bad, and the voice dialog, lets just not get started on that. The only good thing about the game in the multiplayer but needs two to three times the server space to cut down on lag. So can someone tell me how the game scored a 9.5? Cause I see a 7 7.5 at best. Sorry halo fanboys but it's the truth. Oh and the comment about Haze, the trailer was more riveting than the whole halo trilogy, halo has fallen short of a great game. Unless your counting the MP, but thats a whole other game so Im not counting that in my score. I'm giving the MP a 9.

  • PatLTornado

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:05 pm PT

    Uhh Plucking, Mario 3 came out in the U.S. in late 1989 and sold over 15.2 million copies worldwide.

    It holds the record as the #1 best selling game of all time.( it's My all time favorite game.)

  • mariofan22

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 8:47 pm PT

    This has bad news for Sony written all over it. With minuscule PS3 sales overall, Wii sales increasing, and the 360 biting into Sony's market, Sony needs to come out with that perfect game to save themselves before they have to pull the plug on the PS3.

    ... I give the PS3 three more years. Its motion-sensing controls were too gimmicky, and it failed on making a service at the same level of quality as Xbox Live - nor did it meet the innovation of Nintendo. As such, this has death written all over it for Sony... rest in peace.

    This doesn't spell death at all for Nintendo or Microsoft - in fact, I think they'll be the two main powerhouses in this generation. Nintendo has an attraction for new gamers and former Nintendo fans - and I think Microsoft will eat up most of the Sony crowd... we'll see.

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 8:15 pm PT

    Nintendo's console is cheap so they won't need anything to counter this during the holidays. So...what does Sony have to counter this? That pathetic thing called Haze?

  • Legendkillerh2

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 5:39 pm PT

    sony, where is your god now?

  • ctg867

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:54 pm PT

    That's great, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm really disappointed with the game. There are a lot of network, gameplay, forge, and theater problems. Not to mention that fact that the story is disappointing, the beginning of the game is put in a comic book rather then the game, and there is very little in the way of cutscenes and dialogue from the main characters. Too much wasted time on Grunt and Marine dialogue I guess...

    The first half of the Halo 2 campaign was great, and then the gameplay for the second half kinda sucked. But the story and cutscenes were awesome and on point. With Halo 3, the gameplay is friggin amazing, but the story, minus the scene where the Arby kills the prophet and the ending, the cutscenes and dialogue are bloody awful.

  • TehReaper

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:50 pm PT

    dam they r rich -_-

  • Hot_Rocks

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:29 pm PT

    it would be amazing if they had a normal pre-order time frame but when you have about a year to presell even a homeless man can save up and get a copy. top that with the fact you are selling a 100 dollar legend box set, the total revenue amount doesn't represent total copy sales. and almost any popular game can reach that amount in a year. Really how many people put down more than 5 dollars to hold a copy if not the whole amount so its not really a single day take in. more like the largest delivery date ever.

  • uberjannie

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    Way to go Bungie =)
    Congratulation on your success!

  • Hungry_bunny Site moderator

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:37 pm PT

    Wow... they will climb up the best-selling franchise list a lot faster than I expected.

  • xmg0

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:05 pm PT

    lol wait till Halo 4!
    then we'll see competition

  • OluDara

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 12:43 pm PT

    That's crazy.

  • McGregor

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:13 am PT

    halo 3 is fun. i find it to be a great waste of my free time

  • sakamatana5

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 10:10 am PT

    It was a good game, but the storyline is just there to exist. ITs short and Half Life has way better level planning. Its great for online play, but that is all it has other than hype. Good job on sales, but that will probably be the best game for Xbox 360 as Metal gear will be for PS3. ( I'm saying as exclusives).

  • cimbomboy2

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:56 am PT

    i disagree with that payback_56. theres been so many other game themed consoles and controllers. the earliest i remember were on the N64 with DK and pokemon and a few others. so just because its got its own versions of consoles and controllers doesnt mean its gonna be big it just means that the developers are marketing the **** out of it

  • tben2004

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:44 am PT

    Holy #*(&% That alot of copy's and i one day god know how many have been sold so far.

  • Wolverine1701

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:25 am PT

    I think we can safely say that Halo is video gaming's Star Wars. Its not the best ever made, but its solid and it managed to cull an audience that normally wouldn't be interested in the medium to be come obsessed with getting a hold of it. That being said, that would mean that Pong is the Birth of a Nation of video games and Pac Man the Citizen Kane.

  • payback_56

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:16 am PT

    Honestly is anyone surprised? Its the most hyped, most anticipated game ever, when a game has action figured and custom controllers, and its own version of the xbox 360 console, u kind of know its gonna be big, and put up big numbers...

  • SOKMHeadShot posted Oct 3, 2007 9:15 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    SOKMHeadShot

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 9:15 am PT (hide)

    the story of one overrated game =)

  • relset posted Oct 3, 2007 8:45 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    relset

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 8:45 am PT (hide)

    microsoft

  • Arch-Vil posted Oct 3, 2007 5:34 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    Arch-Vil

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 5:34 am PT (hide)

    wait until Crysis is released.........

  • rob3nelson

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 4:00 am PT

    Who says Microsoft needs Japan? We don't need Asia to succeed. We can do it on our own.

  • mazniq posted Oct 3, 2007 1:44 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    mazniq

    Posted Oct 3, 2007 1:44 am PT (hide)

    W h a t e v e r... Microsoft can vaunt themselves as much as they like.

  • berkner_ram77

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 10:23 pm PT

    I knew it would do good, but $170 milliion is amazing! Also, beating Halo 2 was spectacular due to the fact that there are many less 360's at launch than their were xbox's.

  • luisen123

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 8:41 pm PT

    Carlos Slim is the richest man on the world not Bill Gates...

  • Lobo27

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 6:25 pm PT

    Halo 3, what can i say...yes halo 3 is a good game, however i wouldn't say that it is the best game. halo 3s graphics were obviously next gen, and bungie offered alot of new features to the game, but also took features away that made halo 1 and halo 2 great games. i find it funny how now you have to have an account to play online no matter what now...another way for microsoft to make a coulple extra bucks. stupid. i read in a comment that halo 3 is on a dvd and that its so amazing and that xbox doesn't need blueray...im not saying xbox needs blueray, but halo 3 may have looked really good graphically but the story mode was really short and it seemed like the missions were somewhat repetative. my point is that yes its on a dvd but i bet the dvd was maxed out. so is this the "best" that microsoft has to offer? thats what people are saying. i just find it funny how people bash other systems and other games when its so obvious that they're wrong but can't look past their system to see it. this goes for sony, microsoft, and even nintendo fanboys. i for one just like to play video games. overall i think that halo 3 sold as many copies as it did because of 1.) halo 1 and 2 2.) ALL the advertising and hype. either way i would buy it because i love the halo series, however i wouldn't say its the best game out there, but thats my opinion.

  • komet999

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 5:43 pm PT

    phillo99: actually, the richest man on earth is a Mexican business man. Not bill gates anymore. Anyway kudos to M$. Can't deny it, its a hell of a game.

  • Mr_duong

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 4:36 pm PT

    i paid 135 for it!!! (thats with tax) so thats 129.99 of my money to bungie, MS, Bill Gates, havoc physics, and the rest of those companies lolz

  • phillo99 posted Oct 2, 2007 4:16 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    phillo99

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 4:16 pm PT (hide)

    Way to give the richest man on earth more money!

  • Little_GreenMan

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 4:05 pm PT

    camreeno360 are you retarded? They said right in the article that it made $45 million more than Halo 2. They also compared it with several hit movies. God you are dumb.

  • camreeno360 posted Oct 2, 2007 3:55 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    camreeno360

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 3:55 pm PT (hide)

    It's a lot of money but it's kind of hard to picture how much that is in terms of gaming sales if they don't compare it with anything. For instance, how were the first day sales for Halo 2?

  • Built

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 1:56 pm PT

    dats a lot of money... but it makes sense...
    halo 3 was sellin for over $60 / $80 / $120 ... per copy..

  • LGAKAgregory

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 1:51 pm PT

    **** thats alot lol

  • verdugoRE4

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 1:17 pm PT

    Wow, I'm speechless....

  • veitari

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 12:42 pm PT

    There are alot of games I hope are even half this succesful. It keeps the developers in buisness, which meaans more games.

    I'm hoping Bungie move onto equally successful games as well.

  • CodyTG

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 11:53 am PT

    jackfatal obviously hasn't seen/heard of Gears of War....

  • Cubb7

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 11:26 am PT

    Holy crap!!

  • joeyfine posted Oct 2, 2007 11:10 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    joeyfine

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 11:10 am PT (hide)

    anyone wanna tell me how you can compare a $8 movie ticket to a $60 game? if this was Halo the movie then it would be fair. but come on.

  • ciclukeq

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 8:36 am PT

    HaloHellDaddy45 you are right, this seems to have almost under sold (dare I say it) It equates to 3 million in the US alone, but in Europe the sales were fine, but certainly not revolutionary and in Japan non-existent. Final Fantasy 10 sold 2.16 million in Japan alone in the first 6 hours. Which I think is the fastest selling game ever. Maybe. And yes, my 360 broke the week before Halo 3's release. I was so pi**ed, I waited in vain for it to fix itself so now I've taken it back and play it round a friends. Awesome isn't it? Though I've only played 3 player co-op.

    Will probably max out of 6 million I reckon. Most people who really wanted to play it would've bought it by now surely. But don't forget Christmas.

  • lord-of-gamers posted Oct 2, 2007 5:31 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    lord-of-gamers

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 5:31 am PT (hide)

    dimitry0102

    i agree entirely - why do we care? why does Gspot care? this sounds more like something that a stock exchange website or whatever would post because it concerns them... now, not being at all biased but i really do believe that this is just Gspot creating even more hype about halo 3 - you can sasy what you like about that but i truly believe so - what good will this information do for me and all gamers?

    NUTTIN!

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