Halo 5: Guardians Steamrolls Its Way To Blockbuster $400 Million Opening Week

Microsoft reports that in its first week of availability, Halo 5: Guardians brought in over $400 million in global sales. Microsoft specifically mentions “games and hardware” in that figure, so the company is likely including Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One bundles in that figure, which skews those numbers a bit. After all, the console bundle retails for $499, while a boxed version of the game will set you back just $59.99.

Regardless of the technicalities, Microsoft says that the Halo 5: Guardians launch was big enough to push lifetime sales for the franchise to over $5 billion. “With the highest week one attach rate for a Microsoft first party title on Xbox One, the game was the most played of any game on Xbox One, as well as the most played on Xbox Live,” said Microsoft via the Xbox Wire.

And since we’re talking about records, Microsoft says that Halo 5: Guardians is the quickest selling Xbox One exclusive game yet, and that tremendous digital sales made it the best-selling digital game launch via the Xbox Store.

Since the game’s launch last Tuesday, Master Chief fans have logged over 21 million hours of total gameplay. The multiplayer mode alone has racked up over nine million hours of gameplay and millions of multiplayer matches have been initiated.

“The success of Halo 5: Guardians is a testament to the innovative work from the entire team at 343 Industries to bring this installment to Xbox One and the incredible community of fans who have come to love the story, characters and gameplay central to the franchise,” said Xbox chief Phil Spencer. “The game represents all the possibilities of Xbox One and has earned its place as the anchor title in the greatest holiday games lineup in Xbox history.”

Looking forward, Halo fans should keep an eye on the Halo World Championship which opens its doors in December and concludes in March. The tournament will span across five global regions and has a prize pool in excess of $1.5 million.