:"Halo 3" Records More Than $300 Million. First-Week Sales Worldwide

October 4, 2007

Global Entertainment Phenomenon
“Halo 3” Records More Than $300 Million. First-Week Sales Worldwide

Xbox 360 console sales almost
doubled; nearly 3 million gamers play online via Xbox LIVE.

Interactive entertainment will never
be the same, with the launch of one title that has changed the way the world
thinks about video games. “Halo® 3” has captured the attention of consumers
worldwide and has made history as one of the biggest entertainment launches of
all time.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that
“Halo 3” has officially become a global phenomenon, garnering more than $300
million in sales in the first week alone. The critically acclaimed Xbox 360®
exclusive, which was released worldwide on Tuesday, Sept. 25, is the
fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful
entertainment properties in history.

Initial reports from retailers
worldwide show console sales have nearly tripled compared with the weekly
average before the launch of “Halo 3.” With games such as “Halo 3,” “Madden 08”
(EA Sports), “Mass Effect” (Microsoft Game Studios) and “Rock Band” (Harmonix),
Xbox 360 has the greatest lineup in the history of video games and is the only
console where consumers can play all the year’s biggest blockbusters.

“‘Halo’ is truly a cultural
phenomenon, and the launch of ‘Halo 3’ is an important milestone for Xbox 360
and for video games as entertainment and as an art form,” said Bill Gates,
chairman of Microsoft. “‘Halo 3’ embodies our vision for the future of
entertainment, where some of the world’s greatest creative minds will deliver a
new generation of interactive storytelling.”

“Halo 3” is quickly staking its
place as the most popular Xbox LIVE® game in history with members gathering in
record numbers to play on the world’s largest online gaming and entertainment
network on TV. More than 2.7 million gamers have played “Halo 3” on Xbox LIVE in
the first week, representing nearly one-third of the 7 million Xbox LIVE members
worldwide. Within the first day of its launch, “Halo 3” players worldwide racked
up more than 3.6 million hours of online gameplay, which increased more than
elevenfold to 40 million hours by the end of the first week, representing more
than 4,500 years of continuous gameplay. Since “Halo 3 launched,” gamers have
unlocked nearly 30 million achievements. In its first week alone, “Halo 3” drove
a record number of Xbox LIVE Gold Memberships as hundreds of thousands of new
members gathered online with friends, family members and other gamers around the
world to collectively compete and complete the game.

“Halo 3” is the conclusion to the
epic trilogy and picks up where “Halo 2” left off, answering questions about the
fates of the beloved protagonist Master Chief™ and his artificial intelligence
sidekick Cortana as they struggle to save humankind from destruction at the
hands of the alien coalition known as the Covenant. In addition to the rich
storyline, “Halo 3” continues the franchise’s grand tradition of delivering
innovative online multiplayer experiences via Xbox LIVE. The game’s online
multiplayer and innovative four-player cooperative gameplay for Xbox LIVE Gold
users, the much-talked-about Saved Films feature that enables players to capture
and save their favorite moments on their hard drives, and Forge, an innovative
map editor that enables myriad customization options, are just some of the new
features gamers are experiencing.

Developed by Bungie Studios and
published by Microsoft Game Studios, the “Halo” franchise is exclusive to the
Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and optimized for the Xbox LIVE
online entertainment network. “Halo 3” was released in 37 countries and 17
languages. To date, more than 20 million copies of the games in the “Halo”
trilogy have been sold worldwide.

Record week-one sales come on the
heels of the previously announced $170 million in sales in the U.S. within the
first 24 hours of the game’s release, which marked not just the biggest video
game launch, but the biggest entertainment launch in history. The Xbox 360 title
beat previous U.S. sales records set by blockbuster openings for entertainment
events such as the release of “Spider-Man 3” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows.” In addition, more than 1.7 million copies of “Halo 3” were pre-ordered
in the United States, making it the fastest pre-selling game in history,
surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of “Halo 2.”