Halo 2 Passes 5 Million
Hurrah for Microsoft and Bungie.
When the Xbox launched in 2001, Halo: Combat Evolved was the game to have, and over the course of the next three years it would go on to sell five million copies. Halo 2 has done that in less than a month.
Worldwide sales of Halo 2, which was released on 9 November in North America and 11 November in Europe, have easily overtaken those of its predecessor, helping to lift sales of the Halo franchise past the 11 million mark.
The success of Halo 2 is driven in large part by the addition of online play. All told, gamers have spent 28 million hours on Xbox Live already - another record.
And Microsoft is keeping up its end of the deal too, by adding new features to make network play a more enjoyable experience. The most recent additions fix the balance of gameplay modes selected during multiplayer match-ups and add a few extra modes.
This vigilant strategy has clearly worked - 90 per cent of the million or so Xbox Live players have created accounts to play Halo 2 on Live.
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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