In a year when Hollywood is rolling out its biggest blockbusters, one video game has eclipsed them all. “Halo 4” is on track to reach US$300 million in global sales in the first week, making it the biggest Halo launch in history and the biggest entertainment launch of the year to date. In the first 24 hours of its release, Halo 4 garnered more than US$220 million worldwide, eclipsing the record for the biggest day-one opening in U.S. box office history, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and the biggest movie of 2012, The Avengers – based on U.S. sales alone.
Australia continued the global success of Halo 4 setting two new local records. In a stellar first week Halo 4 has become the largest ever Halo launch in Australia as well as the largest Xbox game launch of 2012.
The release of Halo 4 propelled lifetime sales for the “Halo” franchise beyond US$3.38 billion. Halo 4 also shattered the record for the largest number of players in the history of the Halo franchise, with over 4 million players in the first five days. Users spent a total of 31.4 million hours playing Halo 4, pushing the total number of gameplay hours across the Halo franchise well beyond the five billion mark.
Phil Spencer | Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Studios
We’re thrilled that ‘Halo 4’ has emerged as the biggest U.S. entertainment launch of the year. Thanks to the millions of fans worldwide who helped make this another record-breaking launch for the ‘Halo’ franchise, ‘Halo 4’ is kicking off a strong holiday season and has become the must-have blockbuster experience of the year.
Note: All statistics were sourced from a press release.
