It's official: Blizzard Entertainment's latest opus, Diablo 4, is the fastest-selling game made by Blizzard Entertainment.
Diablo 4, which only officially launched on June 6, achieved this significant milestone not long after the early access period started. This isn't a small feat considering that Blizzard has a hefty catalog that includes big names like Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and even StarCraft.
Unfortunately, like the secretive Prime Evils, Blizzard isn't quite keen on revealing the exact figures of Diablo 4 just yet.
The fires of Hell burn bright 🔥#DiabloIV is the fastest selling Blizzard game of all-time. pic.twitter.com/L4pdjVnWFE
— Diablo (@Diablo) June 6, 2023
It's unclear why Blizzard refuses to give critics the sales figures when developers can't wait to boast about their achievements. At the very least, Blizzard did let us in on one massive figure - the 93 million hours players have poured into Diablo 4 since its release. This equates to over 10,000 years of gameplay in just a few days! It's no wonder that it didn't take long for someone to reach level 100 in Hardcore Mode.
If we pull up the history books and search up Blizzard's other best-selling titles, the previous record-holder is World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, which sold 3.7 million units on the PC in 2020 at launch. Before this, Diablo 4's predecessor, Diablo 3, had sold 3.5 million copies when it first came out at the turn of the last decade, setting a record for the fastest-selling PC game back then.
Diablo 4 has a unique edge, though. Unlike its predecessors, which were initially PC-only titles, Diablo 4 was simultaneously released on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and the PC.
This multiplatform launch strategy likely boosted Diablo 4's sales significantly. Alas, we might have to wait for the company to release its next quarterly performance report, likely around September, to know more about the official figures.
Ever since its initial announcement at BlizzCon 2019, Diablo 4 had a monumental expectation to fulfill. With the early access kicking off on June 1 and the standard version coming later on June 6, Blizzard's latest beast has already been praised for its immersive storytelling, engaging gameplay, and the sheer amount of content available. The launch was only marred by a few server issues during the early access period and when the game went public.
Diablo general manager, Rod Fergusson, described this moment as having been "years in the making" for the development team.
It's safe to say that Diablo 4's grand entrance has been nothing short of extraordinary. We have little doubt that Blizzard can maintain Diablo 4's momentum in the coming months. It's confirmed that at least Season 2 is already in development with at least two expansions coming to Diablo 4.
Blizzard, without a doubt, has unleashed a monumental force in the form of Diablo 4. Now, we watch as this beast reigns, awaiting how many more souls it can suck into the endless grind.
