There’s no denying that ‘Halo 4′ is one of the biggest games of the year. In the first 24 hours of the game’s release, ‘Halo 4′ brought in an astounding $220 million in sales, and is projected to reach well above $300 Million after this week. 343 Industries has a lot to be proud of, as the title is the first project ever shipped by the Microsoft-owned developer, and they have already surpassed launch sales of previous installments of the franchise.
The title also broke the record for largest number of players in the series history, coming in at over 4 million in only the first five days.
These sales numbers are also being compared to film box-office sales, as ‘Halo 4′ made more money in one day than both ‘The Avengers‘ and ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.’ Over the past few years, it was no major surprise to see a blockbuster video game go on to break records, but 2012 had many in the industry worried. After several years of a rapid increase in popularity, gaming seemed to be on the decline, but recent game releases have proven that the industry is bigger than ever.
While 343 Industries and Microsoft enjoy their success of having the biggest entertainment launch of the year, a major threat looms on the horizon. The highly-anticipated shooter ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops II’ was released today, November 13, and is already set to break several franchise and industry records. Last year’s ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’ made over $400 Million in the first day, and analysts are expecting ‘Black Ops II’ to shatter that record. We’re sure to hear the official sales numbers over the next few days.
The video game industry is currently the second-largest entertainment industry in the world, second only to the film industry. However, as technology continues to improve and games become more and more accessible to a wider audience, that may change very soon.
Source: THR
