Diablo III sells 3.5 million in 24 hours

Diablo III may have been long in the making, but it was quick to record success upon release last week. Blizzard Entertainment today announced that the hotly hyped dungeon crawler sold 3.5 million copies in its first 24 hours, with more than 6.3 million copies landing in gamers' hands during its first week. Sales of this magnitude make the title the "fastest-selling PC game" in history, according to Blizzard's figures.

Diablo III's first-day sales do not include the 1.2 million players who received Diablo III as part of the World of Warcraft annual pass promotion. Additionally, the game's first-week tally does not factor in players in Korean Internet game rooms, Blizzard said.

Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime praised the launch of Diablo III, but also noted the game went live amid some technical troubles.

"We're definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo III and jump in the moment it went live," he said. "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 III players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support."

Upon release, Diablo III faced a string of issues, including a bug that made the game unplayable for some. Blizzard was quick to apologize for the game's rocky launch, saying last week that it did not do enough to ensure a smooth debut.

Diablo III was also a big success for major retailers. GameStop's senior vice president of merchandising said Diablo III was one of its "biggest PC launches ever." Additionally, Amazon director of video games John Love reiterated that Diablo III broke preorder PC records at the retailer, and noted it also "shattered" day-one sales milestones for a PC game.

What's next for Diablo III? The game launched without player-versus-player multiplayer support, which will be added at a later date. Additionally, the arrival of the game's real-money auction house was delayed from its originally planned launch.

For more on Diablo III, check out GameSpot's review.