Diablo 3 sells 6.3 million units in its first week

Ok, so there's no sticky anymore, and I haven't seen another recent thread about this. I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere in SW already, but I just won't go read the nearly 200 pages of the official thread.

I find that number interesting, for a very specific reason : I'm a PC gamer, but I've never been a great fan of Blizzard games. I enjoyed both Warcraft and Starcraft when they first released, and missed out on Diablo. Since then, I've never felt the urge to purchase another Blizzard game.

Nevertheless, I'm one of the six million people who bought this game, and I have to say that I'm actually surprised in a positive way. I've spent half of my play time messing around with friends in multiplayer, and haven't suffered connectivity issues (apart from the server maintenance last sunday).

The reason I made this thread, is to talk about piracy and the way many other PC gamers dismiss it, and hate on companies enforcing brutal DRMs like Blizzard did with this game.

Isn't it shocking that the two fastest selling PC games ever, beyond their intrinsic qualities, happen to also be games that are very hard to enjoy illegally? I'm asking this because I'm one of the PC gamers that actually acknowledge that piracy is a real issue for this otherwise fantastic gaming platform, and I think Diablo 3, for better or worse, is going to convince many developers/editors that online-only and aggressive DRMs are the only way to go once you become a major actor.

I'm very admirative and respectful of CDProjekt Red's position regarding DRM, but I also think they chose to act this way because they didn't have the resources in the first place to do like Blizzard.

So, SW, what do you think (besides "lol PC gamerz are teh pirates lol")?

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

Bravo. Already 3 idiots who don't know how to read.

Edit : 4 actually

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

Unfair comparison

To the TC, what are the 2 best selling games you are referring to?

And 20 million pirated the game

Pretty damn good. Diablo is damn popular on PC.

Blizzard is the biggest third party developer/publisher in the entire world

They have the luxury of being able to get away with DRM no matter how much it hurts the consumer.

Not every dev is quite there yet, so I don't think we'll see any new trend develop because of it.

Look at what happened to Ubisoft when they did it to their games. Their revenue went down when they started pushing the always-online drm.

And 20 million pirated the game

fire-dragon-90

Aaaaaand another idiot who can't read my OP and yet thinks he can make a clever reply.The point of this thread, is that I believe the reason this game sold so well is because it can't be pirated "correctly" right now. Cracks have been released, but are useless given the fact that part of the game is streamed directly from Blizzard's servers.

And 20 million pirated the game

fire-dragon-90

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

And 20 million pirated the game

fire-dragon-90

And 20 million pirated the game

fire-dragon-90

Educate yourself.

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

On multiple consoles.

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

lostrib

Unfair comparison

To the TC, what are the 2 best selling games you are referring to?

Wow expansion "Cataclysm" and Diablo 3. Oh, and I meant "fastest selling", not "best selling", my bad (editing the OP right now, thanks for your attention). It's obviously too soon to tell how much Diablo 3 will sell...

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

ShadowDeathX

oo i keep forgeting that its a game by Activision, well hey congrats to them because games selling well always a good thing.

Making a thread about Diablo 3 having good sales is like making a thread saying: feces shoot out of people's asses after they eat food.

If it was 10-12 million I would be impressed for Blizz to get such results ... but 6,3 - meh. Nothing special.

[QUOTE="fire-dragon-90"]

And 20 million pirated the game

milannoir

Aaaaaand another idiot who can't read my OP and yet thinks he can make a clever reply.The point of this thread, is that I believe the reason this game sold so well is because it can't be pirated "correctly" right now. Cracks have been released, but are useless given the fact that part of the game is streamed directly from Blizzard's servers.

However you have to remember that Diablo 3 was one of the most anticipated game of all time so there were already millions of people ready to buy regardless of the DRM. However, if you put that DRM on a less popular game there would definitely be major problems--ubisoft definitely caught a lot flack for their DRM. And to be honest DRM generally only hurts the honest user, not the pirate. In addition, the witcher 2 was DRM free and still managed to sell 1 million+ in 3 months i think, which was good for a small developer. In addition, the version that was mostly pirated was the DRM version.

[QUOTE="ShadowDeathX"]

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

oo i keep forgeting that its a game by Activision, well hey congrats to them because games selling well always a good thing.

[QUOTE="milannoir"]

[QUOTE="fire-dragon-90"]

And 20 million pirated the game

lostrib

Aaaaaand another idiot who can't read my OP and yet thinks he can make a clever reply.The point of this thread, is that I believe the reason this game sold so well is because it can't be pirated "correctly" right now. Cracks have been released, but are useless given the fact that part of the game is streamed directly from Blizzard's servers.

However you have to remember that Diablo 3 was one of the most anticipated game of all time so there were already millions of people ready to buy regardless of the DRM. However, if you put that DRM on a less popular game there would definitely be major problems--ubisoft definitely caught a lot flack for their DRM. And to be honest DRM generally only hurts the honest user, not the pirate. In addition, the witcher 2 was DRM free and still managed to sell 1 million+ in 3 months i think, which was good for a small developer. In addition, the version that was mostly pirated was the DRM version.

Good points.

Overall I agree with you; only Blizzard at this point could get away with this. But now that they've opened Pandora's box, I believe we could see more of this.

However, I strongly disagree with your statement about "only hurting the honest user, not the pirate" in this case. The honest user was hurt, to a certain extent, but pirates are the major victims. When was the last time you saw a game released on PC, that wasn't cracked in a playable form after more than a week?

This is the reason why I made this thread. I'm not trying to impress anyone with the 6.3 million sales (I'm not the guy selling the game, you know); I'm just saying this is maybe a turning point for PC gaming : someone released a game that was overhyped, after a 12 years wait, and managed not to get pirated within 48 hours (or even before launch, as is sometimes the case). Im certain every single editor who's thinking about releasing a game on PC in the near future, is looking very closely at what Blizzard is doing with Diablo 3.

If it was 10-12 million I would be impressed for Blizz to get such results ... but 6,3 - meh. Nothing special.

Code135

It is special because it is an exclusive.

It is special because it doesn't include people who play the game in KOREAS at local internet cafes. (39% users play Diablo 3)

It is special because in Asia, the game is sold differently.

Mass Effect 3, a multiplatform, didn't sell 6million in a week. In fact, it is rare that an exclusive sells 6 million in a single week.

It will reach 10million easily, seeing that Diablo 2 sold 14-15 million during its lifetime.

GOD, what a misinformed person.

Next time, READ.

One of the many who bought it (CE) day one. I would only ever play it online (just as I did D2 when I got internet) and have had quite a smooth time with it. LOVE the game and am addicted to it, as are my 5 (soon to be 6) buddies.

9.5/10 Is what I give it. It isn't absolutely perfect, but then again neither is Diablo II, which is tied with OoT as my favorite game ever made.

One of the many who bought it (CE) day one. I would only ever play it online (just as I did D2 when I got internet) and have had quite a smooth time with it. LOVE the game and am addicted to it, as are my 5 (soon to be 6) buddies.

9.5/10 Is what I give it. It isn't absolutely perfect, but then again neither is Diablo II, which is tied with OoT as my favorite game ever made.

NaveedLife

A LOT of PC Gamers like their Always-Online DRM.ShadowDeathX

yup i cant stand the DRM on alot of pc games thats why i dont game on pc often most of my gaming now a days is done on my 3ds.

But But PC Gaming iz dyiiiing!!!!

[QUOTE="Code135"]

If it was 10-12 million I would be impressed for Blizz to get such results ... but 6,3 - meh. Nothing special.

Ravenshout

It is special because it is an exclusive.

It is special because it doesn't include people who play the game in KOREAS at local internet cafes. (39% users play Diablo 3)

It is special because in Asia, the game is sold differently.

Mass Effect 3, a multiplatform, didn't sell 6million in a week. In fact, it is rare that an exclusive sells 6 million in a single week.

It will reach 10million easily, seeing that Diablo 2 sold 14-15 million during its lifetime.

GOD, what a misinformed person.

Next time, READ.

Diablo III is a HUGE disappointment.

1) Many accounts are being hacked

2) The new loot system is garbage

3) Whenever the Auction House is actually working it doesn't work properly and people are losing their gold.

4) Randomly being kicked out of the game

5) **** poor latency

- lag spikes, stuttering and bad FPS

6) The game was made to revolve around the auction house and the future edition of RMT so leveling demands that we spend every last piece of gold on better gear at the AH. Gear drops seem to mostly be a few levels below your character.. again, forcing us to run to the AH for much needed upgrades.

7) Blacksmith skill is practically useless, everything is better in the AH.

- Crafting is too random - paying to train levels is fine of course, but paying to craft individual items is a bad idea especially when stats are so random, we could spend a fortune and may never get the stats we wanted on that item. Better items with better stats can be purchased at the AH.. when its actually working!

There is more but this is just what really bugs me personally.

It didn't sell that many copies.

At least 1.5 million of those were given out by Blizzard to WoW annual pass holders.

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"]

[QUOTE="Code135"]

If it was 10-12 million I would be impressed for Blizz to get such results ... but 6,3 - meh. Nothing special.

sethman410

It is special because it is an exclusive.

It is special because it doesn't include people who play the game in KOREAS at local internet cafes. (39% users play Diablo 3)

It is special because in Asia, the game is sold differently.

Mass Effect 3, a multiplatform, didn't sell 6million in a week. In fact, it is rare that an exclusive sells 6 million in a single week.

It will reach 10million easily, seeing that Diablo 2 sold 14-15 million during its lifetime.

GOD, what a misinformed person.

Next time, READ.

Diablo 1 sold only around 2.5-3million copies.

It didn't sell that many copies.

At least 1.5 million of those were given out by Blizzard to WoW annual pass holders.

Obviously_Right

3.5 million units of the game sold in 24 hours, not including the annual pass holders.

The game sold 6.3 million in a week not including KOREA and ASIA, because the game is sold differently there.

It sold more than Deus Ex; it sold more than Mass Effect 3.

IN A SINGLE WEEK.

If it was 10-12 million I would be impressed for Blizz to get such results ... but 6,3 - meh. Nothing special.

Code135

yep itll be interesting to see what other publishers take away from this. the auction house will also be an interesting experiment. the always on DRM thing doesnt always work though. it backfired really badly for ubisoft. they did reduce piracy but they didnt seem to increase sales. they just ended up annoying their customers. the thing is diablo was always more popular in multiplayer anyway and really popular online with D2. so, unlike creed which is a SP game, people didnt associate the online requirement as a limit for D3 since they were going to play it online anyway. for many its like complaining that an MMO needs an internet connection. so in that sense that probably plays a part in why blizzard could do it. not all games have that association though and if people do see something they want to play offline having an always online requirement it will probably produce an ubisoft result. so lets take a guess at some other games that could get away with this (excluding MMOs of course since they need a connection)....just speculation. basically the "if your not playing online then you are doing it wrong" type of games. call of duty games trackmania monster hunter possibly halo (there is a fairly strong SP halo following but how many of those only play the SP?) dark souls and demon souls battlefield on a side note i think the new sim city will also require a constant connection and i think its going to absolutely tank for it. sim city is definately an offline thing.osan0

You're right, not any game could pull this off right now. However, until now, only MMOs got away with this. Blizzard just pushed the boundaries further... And many games for which multiplayer is quintessential are going to axct accordingly, I believe.

Btw, your list is missing basically every RTS game out there. So altogether there's a huge amount of games that might become "online-only" in years to come.

PC gaming seems bound to become part free-to-play, part "permanent online connection".

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

Console gamers are butthurt that the fastest selling exclusive ever is a pc game.

Console gamers are butthurt that the fastest selling exclusive ever is a pc game.

SamiRDuran

Are people reading this guy's post or only the thread title? And yes I agree TC this sets a very bad precedent in the long run.

Ok, so there's no sticky anymore, and I haven't seen another recent thread about this. I'm sure it's been mentioned somewhere in SW already, but I just won't go read the nearly 200 pages of the official thread.

I find that number interesting, for a very specific reason : I'm a PC gamer, but I've never been a great fan of Blizzard games. I enjoyed both Warcraft and Starcraft when they first released, and missed out on Diablo. Since then, I've never felt the urge to purchase another Blizzard game.

Nevertheless, I'm one of the six million people who bought this game, and I have to say that I'm actually surprised in a positive way. I've spent half of my play time messing around with friends in multiplayer, and haven't suffered connectivity issues (apart from the server maintenance last sunday).

The reason I made this thread, is to talk about piracy and the way many other PC gamers dismiss it, and hate on companies enforcing brutal DRMs like Blizzard did with this game.

Isn't it shocking that the two fastest selling PC games ever, beyond their intrinsic qualities, happen to also be games that are very hard to enjoy illegally? I'm asking this because I'm one of the PC gamers that actually acknowledge that piracy is a real issue for this otherwise fantastic gaming platform, and I think Diablo 3, for better or worse, is going to convince many developers/editors that online-only and aggressive DRMs are the only way to go once you become a major actor.

I'm very admirative and respectful of CDProjekt Red's position regarding DRM, but I also think they chose to act this way because they didn't have the resources in the first place to do like Blizzard.

So, SW, what do you think (besides "lol PC gamerz are teh pirates lol")?

milannoir

Are people reading this guy's post or only the thread title? And yes I agree TC this sets a very bad precedent in the long run.

GD1551

CoD sells over that in 2 hours just saying :oops:

finalstar2007

One of the gens best games, just loving it.

Besides the day one issues I had its been very smooth, and a complete blast with friends. Nightmare and Hell has been fantstic

[QUOTE="fire-dragon-90"]

And 20 million pirated the game

SAGE_OF_FIRE

the franchise is well known and made by a well known company with plenty of advertising.RyviusARC

Let's see just how many games in their entire lifetime have sold more than Diablo III has on PC in just ONE WEEK (keep in mind this is a sequel to a game that had 60,000 online players a decade after its launch)

Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)

Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

Halo Reach (Xbox 360)

COD: MW3 (Xbox 360)

COD MW3 (PS3)

COD: Black Ops (Xbox 360)

COD: Black Ops (PS3)

COD: MW2 (Xbox 360)

COD: MW2 (PS3)

COD4: MW (Xbox 360)

That's a total of 10 games, 6 on 360 and 4 on PS3.

Bear in mind that we're comparing LIFETIME SALES vs ONE WEEK SALES across 2 platforms.

GTAIV 360, MGS4, Gears 1 and Gears 3 are ever so close to making that list.