Microsoft's sci-fi shooter franchise reaches new sales milestone; Halo 4 contributes roughly 4 million copies; free-to-enter tournament begins December 17.

Microsoft has now sold 50 million Halo games since the series launched more than a decade ago with 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved. The company announced the news this morning, reiterating that players have spent more than 5 billion hours playing Halo on Xbox Live.

Prior to Halo 4's worldwide launch on November 6, the Halo series stood at 46 million in sales. This suggests Microsoft's newest entry has shifted 4 million copies thus far. Halo 4 generated $220 million in 24-hour revenue at launch, with $300 million expected for its first week.

Microsoft has released eight Halo games to date, all of which have been first-person shooters, with the exception of 2009's strategy game Halo Wars. These include Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), Halo 2 (2004), Halo 3 (2007), Halo Wars (March 2009), Halo 3: ODST (September 2009), Halo: Reach (September 2010), Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (2011), and Halo 4 (2012).

Bungie Studios created the Halo series, though the company has since moved on to an all-new franchise to be published by Activision. Microsoft's new 343 Industries label is now responsible for all things Halo and is currently working on at least Halo 5 and Halo 6.

In addition to revealing lifetime sales figures for the Halo series, Microsoft today announced a new free-to-enter Halo 4 tournament. The Halo 4 Infinity Challenge begins December 17 and tasks players will competing on global leaderboards across the game's War Games and Spartan Ops modes for a chance to win prizes. Players can register for the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge today through the promotion's website.

The tournament is powered by Virgin Gaming, and its grand prize is a UNSC-themed V8-powered 2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor truck designed by 343 Industries. The winner of the Spartan Ops tournament will be awarded an appearance in a future Halo game. For full details on the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge, check out the tournament's website.

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