Halo boosts Xbox 360 hardware sales

Not content with boosting the weekly video games software market in the UK last week, the release of the latest instalment in the Halo saga also provided a welcome boost for Microsoft’s hardware sales.

The release of Halo Reach helped increase Xbox 360 console unit sales by 99 per cent week-on-week, Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch confirmed to GamesIndustry.

The game itself sold 300k units in its first day of sale in the UK, amassing $200m worldwide in the same period.

In doing so it bettered the week one sales performance of predecessor Halo 3 by 20,000 units and outstripped Halo 3: ODST by a massive 200,000 units.

We obviously believed in the potential of Reach, and of Halo as a franchise, but to make over $200m sales on day one is a staggering result,” director of entertainment and marketing Stephen McGill told MCV yesterday.

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.”