Het zat er aan te komen dat Diablo III een grote hit zou worden, want Blizzard weet nou eenmaal perfect hoe je mensen verslaafd aan een game moet maken. Maar dat het de best verkopende PC titel ooit zou worden had niemand verwacht, aan de andere kant is PC gamen net zo dood als Michael Jackson en Withney Houston, dus over echte concurrentie kan je niet spreken.

As of the first 24 hours of Diablo III's release, more than 3.5 million copies had been sold, setting the new all-time record for fastest-selling PC game. That number does not include the more than 1.2 million players who received Diablo III as part of signing up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass promotion. Altogether, more than 4.7 million gamers around the world were poised to storm Sanctuary on day 1 of Diablo III's release -- representing the biggest PC-game launch in history.

As of the first week of the game's availability, that number had already grown to more than 6.3 million. The above figures also do not include players in Korean Internet game rooms, where Diablo III has become the top-played game, achieving a record share of more than 39% as of May 22.

"We're definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo III and jump in the moment it went live," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "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."

"Regarding today's announcement, we recognize that setting a new launch record is a big achievement," Morhaime continued. "However, we're especially proud of the gameplay feedback we've received from players worldwide. We're pleased that Diablo III has lived up to players' high expectations, and we're looking forward to welcoming more players into Sanctuary in the days ahead."

Commenting on the game's sales achievement, Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop, stated, "Diablo III was one of our biggest PC launches ever and will help make this a record year for Blizzard at GameStop."

According to John Love, director of video games at Amazon.com, "Not only did Diablo III break the record for most preordered PC game of all-time on Amazon.com, but it also shattered the record for best day-one sales for any PC game ever on Amazon.com." Blizzard thanks its retail partners around the world for their support and commitment to the Diablo series.