Halo 3 makes $170 million USD in first 24 hours

Long before Halo 3 hit retail shelves, Microsoft boasted that the launch would be the "biggest day in US entertainment history." Judging by figures compiled for the first 24 hours, they can now back that claim up.

According to a press release from Microsoft, Halo 3 has generated $170 million USD in its first 24 hours of US availability, making it the biggest launch day in the history of the US entertainment industry. The sales beat out the "Spider-Man 3" movie as well as the latest Harry Potter novel, although it must be said that the game is fairly more expensive than either a movie ticket or a hardcover book.

In every copy of the game Microsoft also included a 48-hour trial for Xbox Live, which likely helped drive September 25th to be the busiest day in XBL history.

"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."

Source:
Dailytech

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Sep 2007 6:25

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61 comments

sado0og

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

27.9.2007 06:55 #1

monkey83

Im glad there was a note included in there saying how much more expensive the game is compared to movies or books. I think it is a little silly to tout the biggest day day in entertainment history when you're charging $60 for a game. Obviously that is going to make lots of money when you have 1.5 million pre-orders. But when you consider Spiderman for example, it made $150 million based off $10 ticket sales. Big difference.

27.9.2007 07:05 #2

Riotard

yep always nice to see halo 3 settign new records, just can't wait to get my 360 back from repair to play it! It went 1 day before Halo 3 was released! HOW ANOOYIGN AND IT WAS A LAUNCH CONSOL!

27.9.2007 07:27 #3

dustin80

do not forget they was alot of the $130 bundles too and $70 LE sets. For a game that was quick and disappointing IMO :(

27.9.2007 08:07 #4

adamryer

yeah but think how many more people would buy halo 3 if cost only $10! The only reason I didnt go out and buy it on tuesday is because im short on money right now, but if it was $10 I would have for sure bought it. Im sure alot of people out there havent bought it yet because it costs so much. Sure microsoft would make way less money on the game by selling it for only $10 but sales of the game would maybe double or triple if it cost so much less.

27.9.2007 08:08 #5

ripdox

My wife bought the Legendary edition and payed over $170 Canadian.
My 9 year old son finished it in less than 2 days

......what a joke

27.9.2007 08:46 #6

locobrown

Halo is intended for xbox live multi-player rather than its single player story line. Its similar to Halo 2, disappointment.

27.9.2007 08:52 #7

diabolos

I don't think it is silly to put games against movies. Movies cost less yet appeal to a much larger audience. It isn't hard to spend $60 going to the movies. So I feel it is a valid statement that show how for video games have come in the last decade. This truly is one for the record books.

P.S. Can you imagine how much money they would have made if the game was only half its regular price for the first week like most CDs and movies?

Ced

27.9.2007 08:53 #8

dustin80

Like the guy said above if games was $10 we would see more people buying games game consoles and rental stores would have to lower their rental rates

27.9.2007 08:59 #9

SProdigy

Originally posted by diabolos: I don't think it is silly to put games against movies. Movies cost less yet appeal to a much larger audience.Not to mention that above, someone noted how much money Spider-Man 3 grossed, however, Spider-Man 3 also cost A LOT more to produce than Halo 3, so when it comes down to it, I think we should compare how much profit is made from each of these franchises.

27.9.2007 09:19 #10

xhardc0re

good for xbox360 fans. Tired of hearing wow indeed. $ony fanboys gloat over their *COUGHoverpricedCOUGH* PS3 systems.

27.9.2007 10:13 #11

24Lover

Big deal when Halo start making Madden numbers then i will believe the Hype.

27.9.2007 10:25 #12

MightyOne

It only stands to reason they should be posting the Quantity of UNITS sold instead of $$$ figure to see how Many were sold.

As in the above comments, its just ludicrous to compare Movie Ticket sales to a game and say "We made History"

I'm willing to bet that if u look at some previous HUGE Games or Movies, some would beat that, based on Amount of UNITS sold, and not $$$.

Games and Movies weren't as expensive years ago, so to say "We made History" you must compare apples to apples...which is NOT the case.

27.9.2007 10:47 #13

darkloopy

with a little bit of math you can work out the number of units sold.

$170mil total at $60 per unit. Would work out to be 2,833,333.

2.8mil copies sold. Thats alot for a game.

27.9.2007 11:26 #14

sukhvail

Originally posted by darkloopy: with a little bit of math you can work out the number of units sold.

$170mil total at $60 per unit. Would work out to be 2,833,333.

2.8mil copies sold. Thats alot for a game.Some people bought the 70 and 130 dollar versions of the game

27.9.2007 11:39 #15

ugc

and let's use logic and go one step further:

To say the games should be $10 and they would double or triple the sales??? M$ would never do that. Just do the math. They sold 2,833,333 units and made $170mil off those sales. If sales doubled, so would production cost, and if games were only $10 ea, and the sales doubled, that is only $56 mil. and triple sales is only $85 mil.

The fact is, at $10 per game, M$ would have to have sold 6 times the number of units (games) to make $170mil. Their production cost would have went up 6 times also. Which = less profit overall.

27.9.2007 11:56 #16

jimmer

wow, and thats just the U.S. sales figures. wonder how much they made world wide.
btw, that $150 mil for spiderman 3 was for the weekend. it made about $59 mil for opening day

27.9.2007 12:48 #17

veyron

Originally posted by ripdox: My wife bought the Legendary edition and payed over $170 Canadian.
My 9 year old son finished it in less than 2 days

......what a jokeIsn't the canadian dollar worth more than the american dollar now? why was it $170? U couldve overnighted it from here (US) for less i think.
Anyway the real value is the XBL so dont be disappointed.

27.9.2007 12:55 #18

NexGen76

Let me see sells numbers not boast & claims...People lie but numbers don't.Just more PR fud for Microsoft what else is new.

27.9.2007 12:55 #19

stumpied

Like it or not, the numbers are huge.

I could crae less either way, but those who say it's "no big deal" are missing the point.

When a game gets that big or hyped, can it ever meet expectations?

27.9.2007 13:13 #20

sk8flawzz

i haaaaate math..whats $170 million divided by $60, i wanna know how many were sold...not how much money was made, same with movies or books..
i also want to see if there was a significant jump in console sales because of halo 3...
i know im in those numbers =D

27.9.2007 13:30 #21

chuckdog

I guess most of the people that are complaining are the one's who went out and spent $600 on a playstation 3, and are angry that playstation doesn't have the blockbuster games like microsoft does. We all know what games cost nowadays. Don't be so ignorant. Love my 360, and if I can't afford a game now, I know that I will come down in price like everything else. And if I can't buy it for the 360, then I will buy it for the PC. That's why I love my options. Never owned a playstation, never will.

27.9.2007 14:01 #22

BIGnewb

halo 3 is sick shit...

27.9.2007 15:51 #23

saltynuts

halo is a rock solid game but its saving grace is Xboxlive.you just cant beat the multi player on this game its awsome.and for those of you who bash this game play it first i think you my change your mind.this is not about dissing the ps3 but iam glad to see M$ putting out killer games.for their console sony fanboys look at this and hate on it but its really good for all fanboys because sony and nintendo will step up on the quality of there games.to match M$.

27.9.2007 16:20 #24

24Lover

Halo 3 Disc Read Errors Rampant

http://kotaku.com/gaming/defective/halo-...pant-304600.php

Why I'm not surprise about this alone with the scratch disc problem.

27.9.2007 16:52 #25

ZippyDSM

I dunno Halo is a solid game that plays crappy on a console its better on the PC, for me the console is crap for FPSs without button mapping a default option anymore I no longer play FPSs on the console I don't want to spend 50$ for a game that takes me a month to learn to play that I beat in a week....

if they do not wise up and add more control options they will lsoe more older gamers and people with disablites...

While not as big Halo is the star wars of video games, I think it would be fair to call Halo that.

27.9.2007 17:18 #26

sk8flawzz

hekk yea totally agree with zippydsm about halo being the star wars of video games

27.9.2007 17:20 #27

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by 24Lover: Halo 3 Disc Read Errors Rampant

http://kotaku.com/gaming/defective/halo-...pant-304600.php

Why I'm not surprise about this alone with the scratch disc problem.Mmmmmmmmm I wonder if its the pressing or the disc drive itself....

between the old MS/manufacturing issues the new lead toy/china manufacturing issues I would say brands need to tighten up their watch over these cheap manufacturing jobs...

27.9.2007 17:20 #28

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by sk8flawzz: hekk yea totally agree with zippydsm about halo being the star wars of video gamesI hesitant to call it that since its not a multi console game but I cant think of many such titles to do so well, and star wars and star trek have a huge community devoted to them as dose Halo..mmmmmm star track could work but the trouble is ST is more team based stuff while SW is more small groups of 2 or 3, and SW is close enough.

Zippy is rambling 0-o
LOL

27.9.2007 17:28 #29

ZimHosein

Originally posted by 24Lover: Halo 3 Disc Read Errors Rampant

http://kotaku.com/gaming/defective/halo-...pant-304600.php

Why I'm not surprise about this alone with the scratch disc problem.FYI: MS Offers a free disc exchange program until 02/01/08:

Quote:NOTE: This program covers the Halo 3 Limited Edition Game Disc and Essentials Disc at no charge through 2/1/08.http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/system...ent-program.htm

27.9.2007 18:49 #30

ZippyDSM

Dose it make fiscal sense to bet millions or billions just to "try" and save them in the manufacturing process?

Cutting corners only help so much until you cut into what you are tryign to to cut...

27.9.2007 18:57 #31

bomb12guy

Halo 3 kicks ass and its worth 60 bucks for its multiplayer !!

27.9.2007 20:51 #32

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by bomb12guy: Halo 3 kicks ass and its worth 60 bucks for its multiplayer !!unless you hate multiplayer :P

27.9.2007 21:40 #33

emugamer

^^
Yeah, I don't care for multiplayer. Unless all of my friends have a 360, I wouldn't use it.

I still cannot understand the big deal about Halo. I played Halo 2 and got bored after the first hour. I haven't tried 3 yet, but how does it compare to GOW? Because that game is stunning. I personally prefer Half Life. I can't wait for Episode 2 to come out. But it will probably get lost in the Halo aftershock.

28.9.2007 08:02 #34

LiveChaos

[sarcasm]I wonder what they would have made if so many people hadn't downloaded the leaked halo 3. I'm sure it hurt their numbers really bad and put all those programmers in the poor house. Pirated software is killing the industry!!! :)[/sarcasm]

28.9.2007 12:50 #35

Cfusion

Darn- they told me Jenna Jameson was in Halo3

28.9.2007 14:49 #36

MrPuffin

Quote:Originally posted by ripdox: My wife bought the Legendary edition and payed over $170 Canadian.
My 9 year old son finished it in less than 2 days

......what a jokeIsn't the canadian dollar worth more than the american dollar now? why was it $170? U couldve overnighted it from here (US) for less i think.
Anyway the real value is the XBL so dont be disappointed.its actualy the exact same price give or take a cent or two

28.9.2007 18:56 #37

172987

Quote:I guess most of the people that are complaining are the one's who went out and spent $600 on a playstation 3, and are angry that playstation doesn't have the blockbuster games like microsoft does. We all know what games cost nowadays. Don't be so ignorant. Love my 360, and if I can't afford a game now, I know that I will come down in price like everything else. And if I can't buy it for the 360, then I will buy it for the PC. That's why I love my options. Never owned a playstation, never will. I'm no playstation fan but to say they dont have blockbuster games?

Metal Gear Solid 4? Final Fantasy 13? Gran Turismo 5? Those among others have fan bases just as big as Halo does. The only thing is that the companies that own those games dont have $500billion (obviously not a real figure) to waste on advertising and promoting a game like Microsoft does.

28.9.2007 19:18 #38

172987

28.9.2007 19:18 #39

wetsparks

The numbers are inflated because of the packages with the mini helmet and what not, possibly even the special halo 3 version of the 360. Also, to compare a video game that costs a minimum of $60 (depending on package) to a movie premiere or book launch is ridiculous. Books costs ~$20 per and movies cost about ~$10 per, so they got a decent amount of sales, but nothing compared to the Spider man premiere or the Harry Potter launch.

28.9.2007 21:48 #40

borhan9

All this is going to do is help Microsoft lessen the gap between nintendo and themselves however they have to try and catch up to sony first.

28.9.2007 22:43 #41

wetsparks

catch up to sony in what?

28.9.2007 23:08 #42

NexGen76

The Top 10 Best-Selling Game Franchises

Quote:But despite such astronomical revenue, the Halo trilogy barely cracks the worldwide best-selling franchises Top 40, currently resting at a comfy 15 million units sold. Tack on a generous 10 million more courtesy of Halo 3 (Halo 2 rests at 9 million) and it's still light years away from competing with these formidable franchises.http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/the-...anchises/532199

This is what people are talking about Halo isn't in the top 30 of all time games & what this is number 3.This isn't hate people, this just show all the false ass over hype about this game.

29.9.2007 04:57 #43

saltynuts

Originally posted by NexGen76: The Top 10 Best-Selling Game Franchises

Quote:But despite such astronomical revenue, the Halo trilogy barely cracks the worldwide best-selling franchises Top 40, currently resting at a comfy 15 million units sold. Tack on a generous 10 million more courtesy of Halo 3 (Halo 2 rests at 9 million) and it's still light years away from competing with these formidable franchises.http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/the-...anchises/532199

This is what people are talking about Halo isn't in the top 30 of all time games & what this is number 3.This isn't hate people, this just show all the false ass over hype about this game.

you playstation lovers kill me in so many ways always there to kill any hype the 360 may get due to the fact that sony keep pushing any and evreything back on your super computer.no halo is not the best selling game of all times but that dont change the fact that is a very good game and if you think for one second that warhawk is better then you are insane.and you can call me a fanboy i dont care because i owned my 360 for 2 years with no problems thank you very much.and if you hate M$ why post in a thread with a title like this one.this is positive for M$ and 360 owners.sony lovers go play warhawk.and to let you know even with the ring of death the 360 is still out selling the ps3 in north america so it must be something going right.

29.9.2007 11:53 #44

bandoogie

Come on let's be serious here. I just gotta point this out. All those games on that list that sold better than Halo 3 are franchises with more than 3 iterations in their camp. For Halo to be a series that only has two sequels and a game that is original in characters, it has done very well.

29.9.2007 15:30 #45

saltynuts

Originally posted by bandoogie: Come on let's be serious here. I just gotta point this out. All those games on that list that sold better than Halo 3 are franchises with more than 3 iterations in their camp. For Halo to be a series that only has two sequels and a game that is original in characters, it has done very well.

thank you for pointing that out.these M$ haters are foolish to say the least.it all comes down to this they wish halo was on the ps3.there was a pettion to get bioshock on the ps3 in one forum its just plain anger that the 600.00 machine has no games.just wait ps3 lovers your turn is coming next year.

29.9.2007 15:51 #46

wetsparks

and if you aren't into first person shooters, the 360 has just as many good games as the ps3.

God hates console fanboys. Heres the proof....
http://cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20050205
-----
May the way of the hero lead to the Triforce.

29.9.2007 16:07 #47

ZippyDSM

The PS3 dose have less games still but better hardware(build wise) the PS3 should be wonderfull by next Xmas

the 360 is solid could have more RPGs but the build quality still sucks both systems offer media extras all in all if you got 500 to kill and don't want to fool with down time and graphics are more important to you go with a PS3 and acouple games there are deals out their for it you can score a PS3 a game and 5 BR movies all new for under 600.

If you dont mind possible down time and shipping costs then the 360 is as good a choice.

the WII is a solid game console not the best looking but worth the cost, I am gettign a WII first and lettign the 360 mature another 6 months, dont really want a PS3 yet I want it to mature more as well.

29.9.2007 16:20 #48

saltynuts

Originally posted by wetsparks: and if you aren't into first person shooters, the 360 has just as many good games as the ps3.

Dont kid yourself

crack down

saints row

dead rising

forza 2

test drive

gears of war

command and conquer

blue dragon

eternal sonata

star trek leagacy

overlord

tenchu z

chrome hounds

shadow run

lost planet

just cause

29.9.2007 16:40 #49

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by saltynuts: Originally posted by wetsparks: and if you aren't into first person shooters, the 360 has just as many good games as the ps3.

Dont kid yourself

crack down

saints row

dead rising

forza 2

test drive

gears of war

command and conquer

blue dragon

eternal sonata

star trek leagacy

overlord

tenchu z

chrome hounds

shadow run

lost planet

just cause
currently at this time both the PS3 and 360 have a bunch of mediocre games and mabye 1 or 2 "great" ones, they share alot in common with the PS3 being most costly but having BR and beign better built, the 360 holds a solid lineup is cheaper looks great but the build quality is questionable...hell a WII is more fun and cheaper LOL

Sadly the WII has the same problem as the others alot of mediocre games not many good/great ones, so it comes down to frustration factor (waiting for games,putting up with bad hardware) and graphics the 360 and PS3 look 7th gen while the WII looks more like 6th gen.

For all the console/game fanboys out their.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!

29.9.2007 16:49 #50

wetsparks

Yeah, you are right, some of those aren't first person shooters, they are third person shooters. Other than that, the only two good games are Saint's Row (GTA knock-off), Dead Rising, and Forza.

God hates console fanboys. Heres the proof....
http://cad-comic.com/comic.php?d=20050205
-----
May the way of the hero lead to the Triforce.

29.9.2007 17:04 #51

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by wetsparks: Yeah, you are right, some of those aren't first person shooters, they are third person shooters. Other than that, the only two good games are Saint's Row (GTA knock-off), Dead Rising, and Forza.
Saints is better than GTA BTW but whos splinting hairs :P

For all the console/game fanboys out their.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles...Console-Rundown
Oh god I can't stop laughing!!!

29.9.2007 17:13 #52

chuckdog

This goes back to my first statement, PS3 owners just being upset over the lack of quality games for the PS3. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who see's it. And who cares about the difference in build quality between the two. I've had my 360 for 2 years and have never had a problem. And, I can enjoy games like Bioshock, Gears of War, and Halo 3. I also like the fact that I can connect my 360 controller to my PC and play games like Bioshock. Can the PS3 do that? We can go down the BluRay drive route, and you won't win there either, but thats another story. This is to all of you PS3 owners: Enjoy your well built, no gaming piece of crap.

29.9.2007 20:03 #53

Gradical

Maybe not living in the us makes me think a little bit different, but i have to say, that i own a 360 i want to get a WII, cannot afford in any way to spend 1G in a ps3, and all in all, i enjoy my psp more than my 360 and maybe more than the WII, just because i can play any PS1 game on it, maybe its not the way Sony intended it to be, but thats the way it ism and if i could play ps2 games the way i play psx you could bet i would flip, i could even say that if that was achieved by buying a ps3 then i would be in the pawn shop with my 360 my psp even my video camera only to be able to do that.

29.9.2007 20:58 #54

borhan9

This maybe just what Microsoft was waiting for.

30.9.2007 17:22 #55

ZippyDSM

Just to point it out Gears and Halo 3 are a bit better than Bioshock, Bioshock has less polish in the gamepaly area...sure Halo and Gears are more simple game types but they are more enjoying to play that a half assed watered down FPS RPG.

30.9.2007 17:26 #56

saltynuts

Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: Just to point it out Gears and Halo 3 are a bit better than Bioshock, Bioshock has less polish in the gamepaly area...sure Halo and Gears are more simple game types but they are more enjoying to play that a half assed watered down FPS RPG.

i can see that and agree with it.bioshock has a better story and the game is longer than both of those but for some reason gears and halo is more fun i guess its the multi-player that bioshock does not have.

30.9.2007 17:30 #57

ZippyDSM

Quote:Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: Just to point it out Gears and Halo 3 are a bit better than Bioshock, Bioshock has less polish in the gamepaly area...sure Halo and Gears are more simple game types but they are more enjoying to play that a half assed watered down FPS RPG.

i can see that and agree with it.bioshock has a better story and the game is longer than both of those but for some reason gears and halo is more fun i guess its the multi-player that bioshock does not have.
I dunno Halo 3 and Gears are simple game types that are simply fun, bioshock is setup to be a mood based FPS and its tryign to be everyones shooter and fails thus why SS2 was so damn great becuse the mood setting and gameplay were polish hell even Call of culthulu was more suspenseful than BS, BS is a solid game but it lacks polish to make it a game you will never forget.

Gears and Halo 3 are not "great" but they are good and fun, bioshock is merely ok at best IMO.

30.9.2007 17:54 #58

scorpNZ

Halo is enjoyable simply coz it's got plasma grenades... i sooo luv those things..get it off!..get it off!.. kaboom (body parts go flying)..lol..

30.9.2007 18:23 #59

wetsparks

I like the way that Zippy abbreviated Bioshock, BS.

30.9.2007 19:43 #60

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by wetsparks: I like the way that Zippy abbreviated Bioshock, BS.BS is not "BS" however it is lacking the lack of polish and detail hurts the game the most.

30.9.2007 19:50 #61

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