Halo 2 Sales Swiftly Reach 5 Million

Microsoft's Halo 2, which had already racked up impressive first-day sales of 2.4 million, has now hit the 5 million sold mark in its first month on the shelf, with one more week to go before a full month has passed. It's difficult to tell whether this makes it the single fastest-selling game of all time, but if it isn't, it's definitely in the upper echelon. The sales so far have brought Microsoft over $250 million in revenue and given the system an overall holiday boost: "'Xbox' and 'Halo 2' are on most consumers' must-have lists this holiday season," said Robert McKenzie, Vice President of Merchandising at Gamestop. "Popularity for both the Xbox console and its number one title 'Halo 2' is an early indication that Xbox will enjoy a stellar holiday season." Spurred along by pre-sale figures estimated at $78 million, Halo 2 has shipped across 27 countries and been localized in 8 languages. In the U.S. alone, the game was launched in over 7,000 retail outlets, with over 1,500 additional stores seeing the game put out in stores from London, to Seoul, Tokyo, Mexico City, Toronto, and beyond. The launch of Halo 2 is likely to help Microsoft achieve its fiscal year Xbox Live user estimates of 1.5 million paying subscribers.