Halo 3 launch breaks Australian sales records

As our US team reported this week, Halo 3 broke all previous American entertainment sales records by trouncing both Spider-Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' opening weekend cinema earnings by posting A$195 million ($170 million) in just the first day of sale.

Microsoft Australia today announced official sales figures down under, with the highly anticipated title rampaging its way to becoming the highest-grossing Australian entertainment launch in history. Halo 3 sold more than 50,000 copies at an estimated retail value of over A$6 million in its first 24 hours.

The Microsoft-published internal figures represent a significant attach rate for the Xbox 360 console in Australia, with Australian Xbox director David McLean revealing: "We are thrilled with the success of Halo 3 in Australia, and with the fact that a quarter of all Xbox 360 owners rushed out to buy Halo 3 on day one."

Independent sales tracker GfK Australia was unable to confirm the figure as they track weekly and the title has not yet completed the minimum audit period, but product analyst Andrew Milgate commented, "If the one-in-four attach rate is true, that's an excellent outcome."