Crackdown shares skyrocket following IPO

Shares of Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Crackdown, +5.11 DKP (+2.37%), for the Xbox 360 have skyrocketed 34.8% since the IPO four days ago, just after the demo's release on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The game stock opened for purchase at 160 DKP (forecasts 1.6 million copies sold worldwide over lifetime). Microsoft's announcement that spots for the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta would be included with specially marked copies of Crackdown has immediately increased demand for the game. Gamesindustry.biz reported that "pre-orders for Crackdown have risen 25 per cent since Microsoft unveiled [the beta's inclusion]."

Hype surrounding the inclusion of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta seems to have successfully translated into interest for Crackdown itself (a true "Halo" effect one could say). Teamxbox reported "four-plus hour downloads" and described attempts to get the demo as a "traffic jam." This has resulted in very heavy buying of Crackdown (Xbox 360) stock, with 259,534 shares traded as of the time of this article. Shares closed up 26.64 DKP (+14.10%) yesterday to 215.64 DKP (forecasts 2.15 million copies sold worldwide over lifetime).