Half-Life 2 sells 1.7m in stores
Latest word from publisher Vivendi Universal Games has it that Valve's long-long awaited FPS opus Half-Life 2 shifted some 1.7 million copies internationally through stores, since launch two months back. Sales were very strong for this PC only title despite innumerable delays, put down to the original Half-Life 2 leak in 2003, and legal wranglings between developer and publisher. It is worth noting that Half-Life 2 thrived especially outside of North America, in Europe particularly, where sales of the original remained healthy until recently.
VU Games added that they expect Half-Life 2 to continue selling strongly, becoming one of the biggest sellers in 2005, though one important caveat must be noted with this news: namely that sales of the game made over the Steam content delivery system have not been included in the 1.7 million figure. This is said to be because of ongoing legal disputes over Valve's use of the service with the publisher - no doubt angered that Valve's popular creation cut them out of the game sales equation. It is unknown how many gamers acquired the game via Steam, and Valve remain tight-lipped at this stage.
Given the popularity of Counter-Strike and the Half-Life franchise generally, it is expected that the Steam number will be high. Higher than in stores? Only time will tell...