Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT): Halo 4 sells $220 mn in the first 24 hours

Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Halo 4, the fourth in the series of the hugely successful video game, is selling like hot cakes with sales worth $220 million notched up in the first 24 hours of its release.

Should Investors Buy MSFT After The Recent Slump? Find Out Here

Halo has been a killer app for Microsoft’s XBox gaming console ever since the first the Halo video game franchise, Halo - Combat Evolved, was first released in November 2001.

The science fiction video game, which is among the first best first-person shooters game on a video game, has so far sold about 46 million copies worldwide generating sales worth $3.38 billion.

The figures released by Microsoft for sales of Halo 4 confirm that the ales have beaten the box office releases of films such as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" and "The Avengers".

The previous game in the series Halo 3 was released about five years back and it sold about $170 million worth of copies in the first 24 hours of its release.

Halo 4 was released last week at a price of $60 a unit. Microsoft said that Halo, was "one of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world."

Microsoft is facing competition from Activision's "Call of Duty" video game, the latest release of which "Black Ops II" is expected on Thursday. "Modern Warfare," the previous version in the series generated more than $1 billion in sales surpassing even the blockbuster "Avatar" movie. Unlike Halo, which is available only on the XBox, Call of Duty is available on all three major gaming consoles of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

Based on the first 24 hours of sales, Microsoft says Halo 4 is on track to reach $300 million in global sales during week one, making it the biggest Halo launch in history.