Halo 4 on track to beat franchise record

The retail video game industry may be declining, but looking at the sales figures for its biggest franchises, you wouldn't know it. Microsoft reports that Halo 4 is on track to bring in $300 million globally in its first week, which the company says is "the biggest Halo launch in history" (though it seems around neck-in-neck with Halo 3, which also brought in $300 million in its opening week). The game -- which is the first in the mainline series to come after the changing of the guard from series creator Bungie to its new home at Microsoft-owned 343 Industries -- raked in more than $220 million in sales worldwide in its first 24 hours on store shelves, a figure that Microsoft has used as a bragging point when comparing it to Hollywood box office records (which it surpassed). It is the largest entertainment launch of the year, but not of all time. That honor goes to Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which saw an estimated $400 million in sales in its first day last year. The latest Call of Duty, Black Ops 2, launches worldwide today, and some analysts project that it could be the biggest one yet. We'll have more once the sales figures start coming in.