Halo 4 playtime fell below Halo: Reach despite more content

Despite a regular release of postlaunch downloadable content, playtime for Microsoft's first-person shooter Halo 4 fell below that of Halo: Reach, five months after release. The information was revealed in a case study posted on Community Unlocked, with statistics drawn from social networking site Raptr.

Halo 4 had established a 92 percent larger user base than Halo: Reach at launch. Developer 343 Industries released free Halo 4 DLC known collectively as "Spartan Ops" in an episodic format following the game's release, which was trailed closely by paid DLC.

Statistics reflect that engagement with Halo 4 dropped by approximately 50 percent post-Christmas, and displayed consistent trends throughout the release of the Spartan Ops episodes. However, following the release of a second DLC bundle, the Majestic Map Pack, numbers dropped again.

Halo 4 launched worldwide in November last year to positive critical reception and generated $220 million in its first day of sale. By comparison, Halo: Reach was released in September 2010, and generated $200 million in its first 24 hours of release.