Halo 3 sales reach $300 million in first week

Microsoft has revealed that global sales of Halo 3 have reached over USD 300 million in its first week of release.

And the company claims that according to retail sources, sales of Xbox 360 hardware have more than doubled compared with the weekly average.

"Halo is truly a cultural phenomenon, and the launch of Halo 3 is an important milestone for Xbox 360 and for videogames as entertainment and as an art form," commented Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft.

"Halo 3 embodies our vision for the future of entertainment, where some of the world's greatest creative minds will deliver a new generation of interactive storytelling," he said.

Microsoft stats reveal that more than 2.7 million people have played Halo 3 over Xbox Live in the past week, with the first day of release seeing a total of 3.6 million hours of online play, increasing to 40 million hours by the end of the first week.