Marketing of Halo 3

Microsoft, the game's publisher, planned a five-pronged marketing strategy to maximize sales and to appeal to casual and hard-core gamers.

Bungie produced trailers and video documentaries to promote the game, partnering with firms such as Digital Domain and Weta Workshop.

The saturation of advertising and promotions led Wired to state: "The release of Halo 3 this week was an event that stretched far beyond our little gaming world.

"[1] Released on September 25, 2007, Halo 3 became the biggest entertainment debut in history, earning more than $170 million in a few days and selling a record 3,300,000 copies in its first week of sales alone.

[7] Though Microsoft used forms of viral marketing for promotion (including the alternate reality game or ARG),[8] the main focus of the company's efforts was traditional media outlets.

The focus on traditional media would help expand the fan base beyond established gamers and convince the public that the game was a cultural milestone.

While Bungie often partnered with other companies to create advertisements, they also produced their own video documentaries, or "ViDocs", detailing the behind-the-scenes development of aspects of Halo 3, including redesigning enemy Brutes, additions to multiplayer, and other game features.

[22] According to Microsoft, the unusual presentation of a model rather than computer graphics was chosen to look at "the themes that lie at the heart of the Halo trilogy—war, duty, sacrifice, and most importantly the heroism of Master Chief.

[22] On April 10, 2007, Bungie announced that a beta test of the multiplayer component of Halo 3 would run from May 16 to June 6, open to select members of the public.

Testers were selected from those who signed up on the Halo3.com website following the "Starry Night" commercial, or from the first 13,333 players to register after playing three hours of Halo 2 on Xbox Live.

Bungie announced that the Microsoft team found a solution and that the issue would be resolved shortly;[27] a patch was distributed for Crackdown that fixed the problem.

[27] According to Jerret West, global group product manager, allowing users into the beta created "a psychological investment" in the game.

Alternate reality games, which involve cross-media gameplay and player participation, had been previously used for the promotion of Halo 2 in the form of the influential and award-winning I Love Bees.

Burger King announced a special promotion starting September 24, 2007 featuring Halo designs and characters on food wrappings.

[37] Microsoft sponsored the #40 car driven by David Stremme for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Dover 400 Nextel Cup Series.

[38] More than 10,000 retail stores in the United States held midnight launch parties for Halo's release, in addition to other locations around the globe.

[39] Sponsored launches featured prize giveaways and chances for fans to play Halo against celebrities and Bungie team members.

[40] The BFI IMAX Theater in London was devoted to Halo 3, while some areas in the United Kingdom cancelled midnight launches fearing unruliness from the large crowds.

The game made $170 million in US sales on the first day of release, generating more money in 24 hours than any other American entertainment property up to that point.

[44][45] Critics and publications pointed to the massive marketing and launch of Halo 3 as evidence that video games had "finally hit the mainstream".

"[47] To capitalize on the mainstream attention, Joystiq sister site Xbox360Fanboy noted, "Microsoft contends that such a [marketing] push is necessary to maintain the appearance of 'a big budget, mass media event'.