Microsoft said that its Halo: Infinite video game has crossed more than 20 million players, making it the biggest Halo game in the franchise’s 20-year history.
That’s a pretty big number for a series that has had 14 different iterations across all platforms during that time. The numbers also helped boost Microsoft’s overall financial performance in the fourth calendar quarter ended December 31.
With over 20 million Spartans joining us so far, we’re thrilled to announce that #HaloInfinite is the biggest launch in Halo franchise history!
— Halo (@Halo) January 25, 2022
Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the next step in this great journey. pic.twitter.com/d4EIsvWYVr
Microsoft said that its Xbox hardware revenue went up 4% in the second fiscal quarter as it lapped the one-year anniversary of its launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.
In the previous quarter Xbox hardware revenue had grown 166%, but it’s harder to eek out more growth on top of last year’s launch numbers for hardware.
The gaming business of Microsoft is now just shy of 11% of total revenue. But that should grow if the company succeeds in acquiring Activision Blizzard, the maker of Call of Duty, for up to $75 billion. In February 2021, Microsoft said it had sold 81 million copies of Halo games.