Halo 2 blows away videogames
sales record

Halo 2 week one sales generate over nine million dollars in retail revenue...

Halo 2 has smashed retail sales records in its first week selling over an estimated 104,000 units* since going on sale around Australia on November 9.

According to figures supplied by the official industry analysts, GfK Marketing Services, week one sales for Halo 2 have out performed the previous week one sales record by approximately 38,000 units.

Halo 2 led Australian consumer spending in the entertainment category, generating a staggering 9 million dollars, which far exceeded any blockbuster movie launched in the same week.

According to Steve Wilson, managing director EB Games, "Sales of Halo 2 have truly taken our breath away. Since opening over a hundred of our stores at 12.01 am on November 9, sales of Halo 2 have far exceeded our expectations.  We anticipated it to be the biggest launch in video games history and it certainly has proven to be a huge success for us."

According to David McLean, regional director Microsoft Home and Entertainment Division Australia and New Zealand, "we never cease to be astounded by the demand and excitement Halo 2 generates. In the first week alone roughly one in five Xbox owners rushed out to buy this game – so you can imagine our expectation for Christmas."

"The enormity of the Halo 2 launch is not just good news for Xbox, but is a milestone for the entire games industry in demonstrating how mainstream video gaming is," said McLean.

In addition, Halo 2 is creating a surge in online game play, by offering gamers yet another compelling reason to subscribe to the Xbox online gaming service Xbox Live. Sales for Xbox Live increased a whopping ten-fold during the week commencing 8 November, based on Live sales for the week prior.

Expanding on everything that made the first Halo such a monumental success, Halo 2 is like a 20 hour action feature film where you play the lead character. Developed exclusively for Xbox by Bungie Studios, part of Microsoft Game Studios, Halo 2 is expected to exceed sales of the original Halo, which has sold more than five million copies worldwide and spawned a legion of powerful devotees spanning all walks of life.