Halo 4 Is a Hit, Sells $220M in 24 Hours

by Nate Wooley | November 13, 2012 11:53 am

[1]Halo 4, the latest release for the video-game franchise by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT[2]), sold $220 million in the first 24 hours[3]. Microsoft expects the game to break the $300 million mark during its first week on the market.

Halo 4 was released on Nov. 6, with a price of $60, exclusively for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console platform. By Nov. 11, more than 4 million individual gamers had played the game, spending more 30 million hours in the futuristic combat simulation.

The big opening ensures a good return on the game for Microsoft. Reportedly, the game cost $40 million to develop.

It’s not the largest opening for a video game, though. Last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 did even better. In its first 24 hours, CoD:MW3 brought in $400 million for publisher Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI[4]).

The original creator of the Halo series, Bungie, was purchased by Microsoft more than 10 years ago. Halo 4 is the first game produced by the new Microsoft game development studio, 343 Industries.

More from the world of games:

Endnotes:
  1. [Image]: http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/halo-4-london.jpg
  2. MSFT: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MSFT
  3. sold $220 million in the first 24 hours: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578115432402361940.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
  4. ATVI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ATVI
  5. The Next Xbox Will Be … a Tablet?: http://investorplace.com/2012/11/the-next-xbox-will-be-a-tablet/
  6. New Grand Theft Auto Is on Its Way: http://investorplace.com/2012/10/new-grand-theft-auto-is-on-its-way/
  7. AOL Relaunches Games.com: http://investorplace.com/2012/10/aol-relaunches-games-com/

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