Microsoft has to be happy to know that Halo still has it with Xbox 360 gamers, and it delivered on launch day. While all of the numbers are not in, it is known that Halo: Reach generated over $200 million in sales within the first 24 hours of launch. This number makes Reach the largest single entertainment release this year that surpasses all games released so far this year. It also surpassed the day one sales of Halo 3, which only were able to rack up $170 million in the first 24 hours of release.

The $200 million in first-day sales puts Microsoft well on track to beat the first-week sales of Halo 3, which was $300 million. While sales estimates of actual numbers sold are still sketchy at this point, analysts that we have spoken with expect Reach to continue to have significant sales momentum for the month of September, with sales estimates for this month alone expected to be between 3.5 and 4 million copies sold.

In addition to the sales of the game itself, Microsoft is also expected to get a significant surge in console sales of Sony for this period. It is expected that the new Limited Edition Halo Reach console could, in fact, sell out. In addition, the Reach wireless controller and headset are also expected to enjoy significant sales.

Microsoft will continue to celebrate Halo during the month of September with massive advertising to ensure maximum visibility to continue to stimulate sales.