Bungie has just confirmed that their biggest title, Halo 3, has set an impressive benchmark in console online gaming. Over Xbox Live, over one billion matches has been played in Halo 3 which beats out the previous record of 798 million set by it’s predecessor, Halo 2.

“Thanks a billion for all the good games and the continued community support,” wrote the Bungie team. “We’re in awe of the success Halo 3 has been met with, but we’re not done yet. Stick around and stay tuned, there’s definitely more to come.”

This momentum is expected to continue throughout the year as Bungie sets to release they’re highly anticipated Mythic Map pack for Halo 3 which brings in 3 new playable multiplayer maps. For those who purchase Halo Wars, the map pack will come bundled in but for those wanting to wait, Bungie will release the map pack worldwide this September.

It is very rewarding to see Halo 3 garner this continued success. It just shows what may happen when a developer decides to stick hard with their games, even years after it has released instead of disbanding them. Personally, some of my greatest Xbox Live memories come from playing Halo 3 online. I just hate it when people on my team in a Ranked match decides to bail out, really sucks, but I believe Halo 3 will always be a dominating factor over XBL over the course of the 360 lifespan.

Source: Games Industry Biz

Tags: Halo-3, XBL, Xbox-Live

• Xbox Live: Halo 3 Back at #1
• Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack Now Available on XBL
• Rumor: Halo Wars Coming to PC with Cross-Platform Play – UPDATE – Denied!
• Halo Wars Demo Now Up on XBL Marketplace
• Xbox Not So Live Today
• Xbox 360 Deal of the Week: Halo: Combat Evolved
• $300 Million in Halo 3 Sales; Bungie Leaving Microsoft?
• Xbox Live Stutters Back To Life

4 Comments » Sam Naylor on March 3, 2009 9:57 am A billion. Wow. DavidGX on March 3, 2009 3:27 pm That’s a LOOOT of utterences of the N-word. DavidGX on March 3, 2009 3:28 pm The knights of standards and practices are gonna feel this one.. madpuppy on March 6, 2009 1:03 am Halo is good…but, it ain’t no Rise of the Triad… :P RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.