Diablo III sells 6.3 million LtD, 3.5 million in first 24 hours

A week on from its launch, Blizzard's announced Diablo III has sold 6.3 million units lifetime-to-date and 3.5 million units sold in its first 24 hours on sale, becoming the fast-selling PC game ever.

Blizzard announced today Diablo III has sold 6.3 million units lifetime-to-date, with it selling 3.5 million units in its first 24 hours. The stats mean it has become the fastest-selling PC game of all time.

The day one figure doesn't include the 1.2 million people who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass, which gave players a free copy of the game, or Korean internet game rooms. The latter has seen a 39% market share while in Korea as of yesterday.

In total, 4.7 million players were logged on by launch day.

While the first day numbers are still staggering, in comparison to ActiBlizz's other big stable in Call of Duty, it's still not quite there.

Modern Warfare 2 sold 4.7 million copies in its first day in the UK and US in 2009. A year later, Black Ops sold 5.6 million units on its launch day in the same regions. And last November, Modern Warfare 3 sold 6.5 million units in its opening day in Great Britain and America.

Nonetheless, Blizzard is still proud of the achievement announced today.

"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," said Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime.

Morhaime acknowledged that internal preparations for the game wasn't quite as prepared for launch, noting the server trouble that had occurred at release, but thanked players for their support.

"We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so," he said. "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."

He continued: "Regarding today's announcement, we recognize that setting a new launch record is a big achievement," Morhaime continued. "However, we're especially proud of the gameplay feedback we've received from players worldwide.

"We're pleased that Diablo III has lived up to players' high expectations, and we're looking forward to welcoming more players into Sanctuary in the days ahead."

Retail partners have also chimed in to congratulate the game's success.

"Diablo III was one of our biggest PC launches ever and will help make this a record year for Blizzard at GameStop," said SVP of merchandising at GameStop, Bob McKenzie.

Director of video games at Amazon.com, John Love, added: "Not only did Diablo III break the record for most preordered PC game of all-time on Amazon.com, but it also shattered the record for best day-one sales for any PC game ever on Amazon.com