Microsoft said today the popular "Halo 3" game for its Xbox 360 console has brought in more than $300 million in sales in its first week on retail shelves. The announcement comes amid recent rumors that the software giant's relationship with the game's maker, Bungie Studios, may be coming to an end.
The game already became one of the biggest entertainment launches in history after it generated more than $170 million in U.S. retail sales in its first 24 hours. The company also said that in the week following the launch, Xbox 360 console sales more than doubled over the weekly average.
Just as impressive as the sales figures, Microsoft reports that one-third of players on Xbox Live on launch day were playing Halo 3, in which they recorded 3.6 million hours of gameplay time. On average, 2.7 million gamers have played Halo 3 on Xbox Live in the past week, for a combined 40 million hours of gameplay. It will be interesting to see if Halo 3 along with other popular titles such as "BioShock," and the upcoming "Mass Effect" and "Project Gotham Racing 4" can further drive console sales into the holiday season.