3.5 million people bought Diablo 3 in the first 24 hours
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.
