Master Chief sure has grown up…

Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie are celebrating a milestone today as Master Chief and his Halo series turn ten years old. If there’s any proof the original IP is still worth an investment, it’s in Halo.

The series was announced in July 1999, and an early E3 2001 demo prior to the Xbox launch was met with some skepticism.

Fast forward a few months later, and Microsoft Game Studios would have its last laugh. Halo: Combat Evolved helped launch the Xbox as a new video game platform to be reckoned with, and created a new franchise star in Master Chief.

Since that time, the trilogy of Halo games have sold 24.8 million units, and has twice broken the record for the biggest entertainment opening of all time with Halo 2 and Halo 3. The latest in the series, also the first on Xbox 360, took in over $170 million in just 24 hours.

And despite rumors that the third game would be its last, the Halo cash cow continues mooing, with Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach expected this and next year.

Ten years later, we have to wonder where the Xbox would be without this landmark series. What do you think?