Gears of War turns out 1 million copies

Redmond (WA) - Microsoft’s highly anticipated game for the Xbox 360, Gears of War, has reached the milestone of one million copies sold, giving it the distinction of being the fastest-selling Xbox 360 game since the console’s debut last year.

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Gears of War is a large part of Microsoft’s strategy to capture some attention away from the Wii and PS3, and to rejuvenate interest in the consoles, as the Xbox 360 enters its second holiday shopping season. The Xbox Live-enabled title went on sale on November 7, and it becomes the first Xbox 360 game to sell over a million copies in less than three weeks.

By comparison, Microsoft’s biggest rainmaker, Halo 2, for the original Xbox, sold 2.5 million copies in its first day on store shelves. The Wii and PS3, both of which were released less than two weeks ago, have yet to move more than a million copies of a single title, though Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess for the Wii has been selling out in stores across the country.

Gears of War, which also currently holds the record for the most pre-orders sold for an Xbox 360 title, sold for $60, the most expensive first-party title for the console. All of Microsoft’s other in-house published titles have had a price point of $50 or less.