Halo 4 Sales

There are few brands in the gaming industry that carry as much power as the Halo franchise. The Xbox-exclusive has moved mountains for Microsoft ever since Bungie released the original, and the series has only grown in popularity as the years have progressed. Despite the rise in first-person shooters on the marketplace, Halo has managed to evolve along with its competitors — while still maintaining an incredibly deep and enjoyable lore.

The latest installment in the series, Halo 4, was the first franchise iteration that was developed wholly without Bungie, and the end result was an enjoyable game that greatly enhanced the series' multiplayer offerings and continued the story of Master Chief. Game Rant had nothing but good things to say about Halo 4 in our review, as did many other critics, which is why it isn't surprising to hear that the game has officially become the top-selling Microsoft Game Studios game of all time in the United States.

Xbox Wire confirmed Halo 4's new sales record — presumably much to the delight of those who who had a hand in developing the game at 343 Industries.

"Exciting news for the Halo team at 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios — critically acclaimed, “Halo 4” is now the best-selling Microsoft Studios title ever in the U.S. market*, surpassing its predecessor, “Halo 3” for sales during each respective launch year."

An interesting note to take from the announcement is that the information in which the sales data for Halo 4 is based comes from Microsoft's "retail sales sell-through data for each respective fiscal year." This means that Halo 3 is still the probable leader in lifetime sales, although it's bound to be overtaken in only a matter of time if the numbers keep up.

Given Halo 4's immense success, it's not very surprising to hear that the Halo 'Reclaimer Trilogy' has been expanded to a saga. Microsoft has also confirmed that the Halo game it revealed at its E3 2013 press conference is not Halo 5, which holds true to its previous statement. Regardless, many Xbox fans will likely agree that more games from that universe are far from a bad thing — whether they be a numeric sequel or not.

Microsoft will be looking to mirror the success of Halo 4 with the recently unveiled Halo title for Xbox One, which could prove a challenge, but may be doable if the new console finds a decent install base.

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You can follow Riley on Twitter @TheRileyLittle.

Source: Xbox Wire