Halo: Reach is now Microsoft’s best-selling exclusive, says the company.
According to website MVC, Microsoft has called the game’s sales “staggering.,” and the truth is, they are.
The game reached global sales of $200 million on its first day at retail. While Microsoft–and the rest of the world–expected huge sales for the game, they do admit that those numbers came in as a bit of a surprise.
“We obviously believed in the potential of Rach, and Halo as a franchise, but to make over $200 million sales on day one is a staggering result,” Stephen McGill, director of entertainment and marketing, told MCV.
Everyone likes using the words, “biggest entertainment launch of…” and Microsoft is no different. McGill added, “The reception the game has received has been phenomenal. Halo: Reach has proved itself to be the biggest entertainment launch of 2010 and the best-selling Xbox exclusive in history.”
Aside from being a huge hit in the retail sector, the game is getting some major playtime. The official word from Microsoft is that players have clocked in over 2,000 hours over the first week, this in multiplayer, Forge, Theatre and campaign modes combined.
“That’s utterly inceredible,” adds McGill.
Halo: Reach launched on September 14, 2010 and is the fifth game in the series, excluding Halo Wars which was a radical departure and took the game into the realm of RTS (Real-Time Strategy).
Despite the huge sales, it may be something of a bittersweet turning point for the series. This is (as of now) said to be the last game of the series to be developed by Bungie, who has developed all the games with the exception of the aforementioned RTS developed by Ensemble. For the main series, Microsoft-owned 343 Industries will take development duties from here on out.
Read more about Halo: Reach, or check out what’s in the pipeline out in the East with Japanese developer Team Ninja, makers of the Ninja Gaiden series.
Via MCV