3.5 Million People Bought ‘DIABLO 3’ In First 24 Hours. My Posse Rolls Deep.

There was a point when I wondered if Diablo 3  would be a success like its predecessor was, and it is announcements like this that make me feel silly for  thinking  so.

Joystiq:

It’s true — the world is big into  Diablo 3. So much so that the game was purchased more than 3.5 million times in its first 24 hours available, making it the “fastest-selling PC game” of all time, according to Blizzard. On top of that 3.5 million, another 1.2 million copies were scooped via the  WoW Annual Pass  (which included a free copy of  D3).

Blizzard’s wording on this claim is especially interesting, pointing out that “more than 4.7 million gamers around the world were  poised to storm  Sanctuary on day 1 of  Diablo 3‘s release.” Blizzard CEO and cofounder Mike Morhaime addresses the  Diablo-sized elephant in the room  soon after, saying, “We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so. I want to reaffirm our commitment to make sure the millions of Diablo III players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support.”

Beyond the day-one sales, Blizzard revealed that by the end of its first week on sale, more than 6.3 million copies were in the hands of gamers worldwide. That guy Diablo is getting beat up by, like,  a lot  of people.

Impressive.