Diablo III Sets Records in First 24 Hours of Release

May 23rd, 2012 by Alisha Turull

From its inception and development dating back as far as 2001, Blizzard’s Diablo III was indeed a highly anticipated release and 3.5 million folks carried those sentiments in the first 24 hours alone announced today by Blizzard Entertainment. Holding the reigns as the fastest selling PC game ever, Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime states in an article posted by Gamezone earlier today,

Regarding today’s announcement, we recognize that setting a new launch record is a big achievement. However, we’re especially proud of the gameplay feedback we’ve received from players worldwide. We’re pleased that Diablo 3 has lived up to players’ high expectations, and we’re looking forward to welcoming more players into Sanctuary in the days ahead.

Now before diving any further, please take note that the calculated 3.5 million figure is based solely on copies purchased and pre-ordered. For all of Blizzard’s Annual Pass subscribers that received Diablo III free with the promotion (1.2 million players), that total boosts first day numbers up to 4.7 million players live on launch day and the numbers keep growing.

With any game in the baby stages of launch there’s sure to be latency issues, servers down, slow queue times while logging in, security breaches and D3 has tackled each of those in an orderly and timely manner I’d say. With more features to be integrated in future installments though I think you’ll see a far smoother transition compared to the other famed franchises at Blizzard.

Does the game live up to your hopes and expectations though? Drop us a line in the comments section and let us know what you think.