Microsoft reveals that Halo 5: Guardians sales have reached $400 million and that the game is also the "fastest-selling Xbox One exclusive game to-date."

There's no denying that Halo 5: Guardians was one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. Earlier this week, it was revealed that sales of the game had surpassed Halo: The Master Chief Collection, with fans clearly quite eager to take on the next chapter in Master Chief's story. But this isn't the only impressive stat that the game has achieved, as Microsoft has just announced that Halo 5 is also the biggest launch in Halo franchise history.

In just one week, sales of Halo 5: Guardians games and hardware reached $400 million, which surpasses Halo 4's launch week revenue of $300 million. However, it should be noted that although the figure includes digital and retail copies of the game, Halo 5 Xbox One console bundles are also included in that $400 million figure. In addition to making a huge contribution to the Halo franchise's overall sales (which have now topped $5 billion), Halo 5 is also the "fastest-selling Xbox One exclusive game to-date." Moreover, Halo 5 is the “best-selling digital game ever” on the Xbox Store in a game's opening week.

Additionally, the game has the "highest week one attach rate for a Microsoft first party title on Xbox One" with 12 million hours having been logged in the Halo 5 campaign, while 9 million hours have been logged in the game's multiplayer with close to 7 million registered users.

Moreover, Halo 5: Guardians now holds the Guinness World Record for most watched video game launch broadcast with 330,000 unique streams on on Twitch. Over 3 million people watched a Halo 5 livestream, a statistic that bodes well for Halo Championship Series eSports competition.

One of the most surprising Halo 5 stats that Microsoft revealed regards the game's highly controversial REQ Packs. The game's Requisition System allows players to spend the points they earn in-game on new weapons and gear, but fans were frustrated when it was announced that REQ Packs can also be purchased with real money, and they feared that it would create a pay-to-win system. But despite this backlash, "Halo fans are taking to the new Requisition System in a big way," says Microsoft, with over 45 million REQ Packs having been acquired (it's unclear how many were purchased with real money), including over 568 million REQ Cards.

Overall, the launch of Halo 5: Guardians can be seen as a huge win for Microsoft. With Sony having a less-than-impressive slate of PS4 games this holiday season and with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Fallout 4 (with which Microsoft has struck up some appealing, Xbox-only deals) right around the corner, the company should sell "millions of Xbox One console sold this holiday season."

Are you enjoying Halo 5: Guardians? What do you think of the game's REQ Packs? Leave a comment and let us know.