Marketing of Halo 3

Lore & Background

Microsoft planned a five-pronged marketing strategy for Halo 3, beginning with a television commercial, followed by a beta test to drive preorders and press attention, an alternate reality game, partner promotions, and a final campaign called 'Believe.' The marketing team had a mandate from Microsoft executive Peter Moore: 'Don't screw up.' Much of the organization was handled by Jeff Bell, Microsoft's former corporate vice president of global marketing. A key challenge was that core gamers knew the game was coming, but the team wanted to invite people into the Xbox 360 and to play Halo 3 as a mass-market entertainment product. Since Halo 3 was an Xbox 360 exclusive, part of the push was to sell more Xbox consoles, which had encountered sluggish sales.

Reader's Guide

The marketing of Halo 3 is significant for its scale and ambition, aiming not just to sell a game but to create a cultural event. Microsoft's focus on traditional media outlets, rather than social media, was deliberate: the company believed the gaming community would spread the word itself, and traditional media would help expand the fan base beyond established gamers. The campaign included a series of live-action shorts directed by Neill Blomkamp, a proposed director of a possible Halo film, and the 'Believe' campaign, which featured a massive diorama over 1,200 square feet in size. The saturation of advertising led Wired to state that the release of Halo 3 'stretched far beyond our little gaming world.' The game became the biggest entertainment debut in history at the time, earning more than $170 million in a few days and selling 3,300,000 copies in its first week. The marketing won several awards and was cited as evidence of the increasing mainstream popularity of games.

Did You Know?

• The marketing campaign cost more than $40 million and utilized more than forty licensees for products such as action figures, toys, and Halo 3-branded soda.
• The 'Believe' campaign featured a diorama over 1,200 square feet in size, built by New Deal Studios and Stan Winston Studios, with a musical score composed by Jay Green.
• Microsoft's target was to sell 1.5 million copies of the game, but marketing research indicated that only 75% of that amount could be counted on from the 'Halo faithful,' requiring 375,000 copies to be sold to non-fans.
• The live-action shorts were directed by Neill Blomkamp, the proposed director of a possible Halo film produced by Peter Jackson, and were the first to depict the Halo universe in a live-action setting.