The Halo franchise is one of the largest in video game history, so it comes as no surprise when Microsoft announced that the franchise has so far topped 46 million games sold since the first game was released way back in 2001.

Microsoft went on to add that the game generated over $3 billion in revenue. Furthermore, there are over 120 million pieces of user generate content. Quite impressive for a video game, a First Person Shooter at that.

Halo 3 appears to be the most played Halo game in the franchise, as gamers spent over 5 billion hours playing this game on Xbox Live. It will be interesting to see if Halo 4 has what it takes to continue the success of the franchise where sales and gamer support are concerned.

Bear in mind, the sale figure does not include Halo 4. So expect this number to hit 50 million before the end of the year due to the solid reviews Halo 4 is getting so far. Many reviewers are claiming Halo 4, which is developed by 343 Industries and not Bungie, is the best ever game in the franchise, and could possibly grab the Game of The Year (GOTY) title for 2012.

As for those who are groping in the darkness, Halo revolves around the life and story of the Master Chief, also known as John-117. Chief is a Spartan soldier, one of the many human beings who were separated from their parents when they were children, to be turned into biologically engineered, cyborg "supersoldiers."

Spartans were originally designed to stop the rebellion in the UNSC colonies. However, these super soldiers soon find themselves going up against powerful Alien life forms known as the Covenant. Despite managing to defeat the Covenant, the Spartan numbers were too small and few to turn the tide of the war.