I'm pretty sure most people knew that Diablo III was one of the most anticipated games for many years running, and we all expected the game to sell well... but it sold VERY well. Blizzard announced today that Diablo III sold a record-breaking 6.3 million copies in its first week, and 3.5 million copies in a mere 24 hours. Now just to clarify, this isn't the fastest selling game of all-time, but instead the fastest selling PC game of all time. The last three Call of Duty games handily sold more in a shorter amount of time, but then again, they were released on multiple platforms. Regardless, this is without doubt a huge feat for Blizzard to accomplish.
"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" said John Love, director of video games as Amazon.com.
Now imagine all 6.3 million users, and even more later on, buying and selling items in the Real Money Auction House that is scheduled for release next week, and Blizzard taking a cut from every transaction. Blizzard found their gold mine with World of Warcraft, and they're showing they know how to keep the cash flow flowing in new and creative ways. My hat is off to Blizzard and their history imprinting achievement.