Reach generates $200 million in day-one sales

Microsoft has revealed that Halo: Reach generated $200 million in day-one sales.

The game, which was released earlier this week, earned more money than "any entertainment launch in 2010," according to Microsoft's Phil Spencer, speaking today at the company's keynote speech during the Tokyo Game Show.

The game has also surpassed the all-time record for simultaneous players on Xbox Live.

The critically acclaimed game has a Metacritic score of 92% and is expected to top charts at the end of the week. It is the last game in the series to be developed by independent studio Bungie.

However, there has been some controversy, with users of the 4GB Xbox 360 S unable to play certain multiplayer features, a problem that Microsoft said it is currently addressing.

Spencer also said that the Xbox 360 console was the best-selling home hardware in Europe and has enjoyed three consecutive months of growth in the US.

A live text of Microsoft's keynote speech at TGS can be read on our sister site, Eurogamer.net.

UPDATE: Meanwhile UKIE has revealed that the game sold an estimated 300,000 units in the first 24 hours on sale, already putting it at number ten in the best ever weekly sales chart for an individual title in the UK - leading the organisation to predict a boom this Christmas for the industry.

"This is excellent news for the videogames and interactive entertainment industry, demonstrating how games sales continue to increase despite difficult economic circumstances," said Michael Rawlinson, director general of UKIE.

"With one in every three people classifying themselves as gamers, and with over half of UK households containing at least one videogames console, the UK videogames market is in great shape for the future."

Before Halo: Reach the franchise had sold around 3.7 million units in the UK, for a total nation-wide revenue figure of just under £110 million.