Microsoft announced the Xbox 360's latest title Halo 3 has officially become the largest entertainment launch in history pulling in an estimated $170 million in the US alone... in the first 24 hours.
To put it in perspective, this record beats the theatrical releases of Spider-man 3 and the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Is this due to the massive marketing machine in full force for the launch?
Nothing says "video games are mainstream" like record breaking sales across the entertainment industry... not just the game industry. "Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "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"
This "big day" is also a big day for many retailers who had breaking sales records for their companies. Many gamers sat in line for hours waiting for the game to go on sale and it's well known that Halo 3 had 1.7 million pre-orders, which breaks the record once set by Halo 2. Over 10,000 retailers had midnight events to kick off the launch of Microsoft's biggest title in history.
The billion-dollar franchise that is Halo has kept gamers busy around the world. This includes 37 countries translated into 17 different languages. Jeder liebt Halo 3!
