Blizzard Entertainment's
Diablo III is now the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 3.5 million copies during its first day on sale last week, and 6.3 million copies sold so far in total.
The company has had a grip on this record for several years now. Blizzard's
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was
the last fastest-selling PC game when it pushed 3.3 million copies within 24 hours after debuting in 2010. Before that,
WoW: Wrath of the Lich King held the record with 2.8 million copies sold in 2008.
Blizzard notes that
Diablo III's first-day 3.5 million sales does not include the 1.2 million consumers who also received a copy of the game after
signing up for a
World of Warcraft Annual Pass. Nor does that number include players in Korean internet game rooms, where Blizzard claims
Diablo III is currently the top-played game.
After
Diablo III's first week of availability in numerous regions (U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia, and others), over 6.3 million consumers have purchased a copy of the game. One analyst
previously predicted the game would sell 5 million during its first year on sale.
Despite its early sales success, the game's launch was marred by errors and problems with its servers that prevented consumers from playing it, even in single-player. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime apologized, "[We] regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience."
Since
Diablo's debut in 1996, the franchise has sold more than 26 million units, including expansion packs. The series has appeared on consoles only once with the original game on PlayStation, but Blizzard
has implied to Gamasutra that a console version of
Diablo III is under consideration.
