Despite Major Launch Fail, Diablo III Sets Sales Record for PC Games
The Diablo III launch has caught everyone’s eye not only because it’s been long awaited by fans, but also because it was followed by major technological fails which angered fans across the globe. Yet Blizzard showed the world that they make PC games so awesome, not even major issues cannot hinder their success. The game set a new record in PC games sales with over 3.5 million copies sold in the first 24 hours after the release.
The number of actual players was much higher to start with – Blizzard offered the Diablo III game for free for World of Warcraft players that signed up for a yearly subscription, all 1.2 million of them. A week after the release, 6.5 million copies have been sold.
“We’re definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo 3 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 3 players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support.”
As a result of this impressive result, Amazon and GameStop named the Diablo III launch the biggest ever in PC gaming history.
Other than being downright impressive, this result should serve as a lesson to PR agencies, professionals and businesses in general – create an awesome product after releasing several others in the past that people just love to buy and use, and even a world scale failure will be too insignificant to prevent your success.
