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'Halo 3' Commandeers $300 Million in First Week

by Tom Conlon on October 5, 2007 at 01:33 PM

'Halo 3' Commandeers $300 Million in First Week

After a record-breaking opening of $170 million in just 24 hours, 'Halo 3' has racked up more than $300 million in sales in its first week of release. Master Chief's last stand to save mankind is not only one of the year's best-selling games, it's also responsible for doubling sales of the Xbox 360 console. According to Microsoft, the weekly average of 360 sales experienced a 200-percent increase in the week leading up to 'Halo.'

This is good news for Microsoft, of course, which can use the proceeds of this success to throw water at some other fires that have erupted recently. Most recently, there was the faulty packaging that lead to scratched discs in the premium edition of 'Halo 3' -- Microsoft is replacing those for free. The company has also been forced into extending its warranty program for the 360 because of that nasty rash of defective systems (estimated at one point to be as high as 30 percent of all 360s sold). Outside of its gaming division, the Zune media player has still failed to capture the interest of the public while Windows Vista is being largely ignored or abandoned in favor of Windows XP.

While there's no doubt that 'Halo' is a cash cow for Microsoft right now, the company may not be able to count on similar video game successes in the years ahead. Earlier this week, the Internet was awash with rumors that 'Halo'-creator Bungie is parting ways with Microsoft -- something that could definitely put a crack in the foundation of Gates Manor.

From Reuters

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Tags: halo, master chief, MasterChief, record sales, RecordSales

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