Official: Halo 3 Sets New Record with $170M First-Day Sales

September 26, 2007 | By: James Brightman

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Halo 3 could be well on its way to the over $200 million that some analysts predicted. In its first day on sale in the U.S. the game racked up an impressive $170 million, easily beating theatrical releases like Spider-man 3 and novels such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

As was predicted for months, Halo 3 has now become the biggest entertainment launch in history. Microsoft's Xbox 360 blockbuster shattered Halo 2's record of $125 million by registering $170 million in the U.S. alone during its first 24 hours on sale.

"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."

Leading retailers Best Buy and GameStop who held midnight madness events for the game around the country were obviously ecstatic about the sales.

Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop said, "With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop's history."

"The initial demand we've seen for Halo 3 has been astounding, and the game is on track to become the number one gaming title of all time. Halo 3 is a genuine entertainment phenomenon and our customers have responded very enthusiastically to the release," said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy.

Microsoft said that more than 1.7 million copies of the game were pre-ordered before the game went on sale on September 25, but Microsoft did not explicitly state how many copies were snatched up on launch day or provide a breakdown on what percentage of sales came from the standard, limited and legendary editions.

For more on Halo 3, be sure to check out the GameDaily Halo 3 hub and this previous coverage:

Microsoft to Replace Scratched Halo 3 Discs at No Charge

Microsoft Believes in Master Chief

Analyst: 4.2M Copies of Halo 3 Shipping in First Week; Xbox Division in the Black?

Halo 3 Limited Edition Marred by Disc Scratches?

Bungie Triples Server Capacity in Preparation for Halo 3 Launch