Wednesday, June 7th 2023
Diablo IV is Blizzard Entertainment's Fastest Selling Game of All Time
Diablo IV, the highly anticipated new installment of the iconic Diablo series, is now live. Already, it is Blizzard Entertainment's fastest-selling game of all time, with Blizzard's highest pre-launch unit sales ever on both console and PC. In the four days since early access started on June 1, Diablo IV has been played for 93 million hours, or over 10,000 years - the equivalent playing 24 hours a day since the beginning of human civilization. Diablo IV features cross-platform play and cross-progression on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, plus up to four player co-op, including two player couch co-op on consoles.
"This is a moment years in the making for the Diablo IV team," said Rod Fergusson, general manager of Diablo. "We're extremely proud to offer players the richest story ever told in a Diablo game. Players have a range of choices, including personal character customization, equipping personalized skills for battling horrific demons, or collecting Legendary loot to support your playstyle while discovering new ones. Since the game was first announced in 2019, the support from millions of players around the world drove us toward this release of our dark vision of Sanctuary. Hail Lilith, Blessed Mother."
"Our vision at Blizzard is to create legendary experiences for all to share, and Diablo IV is an incredible realization of that vision," said Mike Ybarra, President of Blizzard Entertainment. "With highly customizable gameplay, gripping storytelling, and plenty of options around how to engage with the world, this masterfully crafted expression of the Diablo universe is an outstanding example of what our talented development teams are capable of. Whether you're a veteran of the series or diving into Sanctuary for the first time, we welcome players to the global launch of Diablo IV."
Set 50 years after the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Diablo IV opens with the summoning of Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, back to the mortal realm of Sanctuary. The lands have become infested with horrific creatures, and only the bravest of souls will be able to stand against the threat of chaos. Players can customize their gameplay experience in directions that appeal to them, experimenting with skill trees to showcase complimenting spells and abilities as they fight to return Sanctuary to its citizens.
Diablo IV heralds an expansive overworld, which players can explore as their choice of five classes—the shapeshifting Druids, agile Rogues, elemental Sorcerer, brutal Barbarians, and ritualistic Necromancers. There is no golden path; players choose how they want to progress, whether it be pursuing Lilith with laser-focus or exploring the dark corners of each region, while building their skills. The land of Sanctuary is diverse with different biomes and demonic beasts, and players will test their mettle across five regions in over 120 dungeons and dozens of side-quests, all while confronting World Bosses and exorcising plagued Strongholds in a shared and cooperative open world.
But it doesn't end there. After completing the main storyline, players can explore robust end-game activities to further their adventures and grow even more formidable in power. From the grueling and regularly occurring Helltide, to demonically challenging Nightmare Dungeons, there's plenty of ways for players to utilize an updated Paragon Board system and continue customizing their adventures. Also featured is the Whispers of the Dead, which grant Legendary rewards for selected world bounties, and the Fields of Hatred, which offer designated grounds for battling other players and building PvP renown. Plus, players can remain embroiled in the happenings of Sanctuary with the regular release of Seasons and expansions, providing new gameplay features, questlines, characters, challenges, and Legendary loot.
Digital Purchase Editions & Bonuses
Diablo IV is available for digital purchase as a Standard edition ($69.99), Deluxe edition ($89.99), and Ultimate edition ($99.99). Each digital edition includes one or more items to enlist against the Hellspawn that plague Sanctuary:
Standard Edition: Includes the Inarius Wings & Inarius Murloc Pet in Diablo III, the Amalgam of Rage Mount in World of Warcraft, and the Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetics Set in Diablo Immortal.
Deluxe Edition: Includes everything in the Standard edition, plus a Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock for Season 1 in Diablo IV, the Hellborn Carapace Mount Armor in Diablo IV, and the Temptation Mount in Diablo IV.
Ultimate Edition: Includes everything in the Deluxe edition, plus an Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock for Season 1 in Diablo IV (a Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock plus 20 Tier Skips and a cosmetic), and the Wings of the Creator Emote in Diablo IV.
The devout can also purchase the Diablo IV Limited Edition Collector's Box ($96.66), which includes a double-sided electric Candle of Creation, a cloth map of Sanctuary, an Occult Mousepad, a pin of the Horadrim, two matted fine art prints (18.54" x 10.79"), and a Diablo IV Collector's Edition Art book. Available for purchase from the Blizzard Gear Store, and via select retailers in Australia and New Zealand.
Learn more at news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4.
Source:
Business Wire
"This is a moment years in the making for the Diablo IV team," said Rod Fergusson, general manager of Diablo. "We're extremely proud to offer players the richest story ever told in a Diablo game. Players have a range of choices, including personal character customization, equipping personalized skills for battling horrific demons, or collecting Legendary loot to support your playstyle while discovering new ones. Since the game was first announced in 2019, the support from millions of players around the world drove us toward this release of our dark vision of Sanctuary. Hail Lilith, Blessed Mother."
Set 50 years after the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Diablo IV opens with the summoning of Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, back to the mortal realm of Sanctuary. The lands have become infested with horrific creatures, and only the bravest of souls will be able to stand against the threat of chaos. Players can customize their gameplay experience in directions that appeal to them, experimenting with skill trees to showcase complimenting spells and abilities as they fight to return Sanctuary to its citizens.
But it doesn't end there. After completing the main storyline, players can explore robust end-game activities to further their adventures and grow even more formidable in power. From the grueling and regularly occurring Helltide, to demonically challenging Nightmare Dungeons, there's plenty of ways for players to utilize an updated Paragon Board system and continue customizing their adventures. Also featured is the Whispers of the Dead, which grant Legendary rewards for selected world bounties, and the Fields of Hatred, which offer designated grounds for battling other players and building PvP renown. Plus, players can remain embroiled in the happenings of Sanctuary with the regular release of Seasons and expansions, providing new gameplay features, questlines, characters, challenges, and Legendary loot.
Digital Purchase Editions & Bonuses
Diablo IV is available for digital purchase as a Standard edition ($69.99), Deluxe edition ($89.99), and Ultimate edition ($99.99). Each digital edition includes one or more items to enlist against the Hellspawn that plague Sanctuary:
Standard Edition: Includes the Inarius Wings & Inarius Murloc Pet in Diablo III, the Amalgam of Rage Mount in World of Warcraft, and the Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetics Set in Diablo Immortal.
Deluxe Edition: Includes everything in the Standard edition, plus a Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock for Season 1 in Diablo IV, the Hellborn Carapace Mount Armor in Diablo IV, and the Temptation Mount in Diablo IV.
Ultimate Edition: Includes everything in the Deluxe edition, plus an Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock for Season 1 in Diablo IV (a Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock plus 20 Tier Skips and a cosmetic), and the Wings of the Creator Emote in Diablo IV.
The devout can also purchase the Diablo IV Limited Edition Collector's Box ($96.66), which includes a double-sided electric Candle of Creation, a cloth map of Sanctuary, an Occult Mousepad, a pin of the Horadrim, two matted fine art prints (18.54" x 10.79"), and a Diablo IV Collector's Edition Art book. Available for purchase from the Blizzard Gear Store, and via select retailers in Australia and New Zealand.
Learn more at news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4.
25 Comments on Diablo IV is Blizzard Entertainment's Fastest Selling Game of All Time
If they are able to collect user data, it means its a "connected" game, which is privacy concerning.
Maybe in 1-2 weeks I will have a more complete look/feel of the complete game in its current form but yea it does feel pretty good to play in general. 'yes its a modernized online game but thats a non issue for me'
It has always been advertised as a MMO, right from the first announcement as far as I'm aware - How are you supposed to kill a wold boss balanced around a full raid group if everyone's offline?
Diablo 3 was online from launch, too. Where did you get the idea that it was an offline, single-player game from?
Destiny2 is the most expensive game I've ever played which launched at $60 and had numerous paid expansions AND season passes. I'm not sure how bad it is now but at one point someone worked out you'd need to have spent a minimum of $265 just to have played it at launch and kept active in it.
Hmm, I'm just looking it up and this might be the cost of Destiny2
$60 base
$20 osiris expansion
$20 warmind expansion
$40 forsaken expansion
$30 forsake season passes
$35 shadowkeep expansion
$40 shadowkeep season passes
$40 beyond light expansion
$40 beyond light season passes
$40 witch queen expansion
$40 witch queen season passes
$50 lightfall expansion
$24 lightfall season passes (so far)
Looks like to buy Destiny 2 and play it from launch to today would have cost you $479 - if you bought deluxe editions that included annual passes up front, you could potentially have made around $100 of savings, but even then that's still almost $400 for the base game and no additional cosmetics or other in-game microtransactions.
So yeah, $70 for Diablo 4 is $10 more than some other AAA games, but this effectively includes season passes too. Is Path of Exile a better value game? Of course - but that doesn't make D4 overpriced in my opinion.
And absolute numbers are better with context when possible. Here it means remembering the gaming market is vastly larger than ever before, and it continues to grow. It's kinda like how all-time movie box office earnings are best considered with inflation adjustments.
But after finishing the solo campaign of D3 in the first week´s game I´m not in the rush to get the last chapter.
Also because, too much work, too little time for playing.
While cosmetics shop and cosmetics battlepass are not something im happy exist, the game still holds decently as a 70 dollar title if you do plan to explore its world. Especially with multiple classes. There's more than a few dozen hours of gameplay in this.
And yes, the game has hours of gameplay in the same way that cookie clicker has hours of gameplay. Both will provide you with technically infinite hours of mindless grind.
I'm not saying I like it, but if you cut out games published by shady publishers you basically can't play AAA games, period.
and hell even if this is the case then fine, drop triple A gaming, its a weird made up moniker anyway, what does it mean to be triple A? these days? oh yeah, rushed, poorly optimized and way too expensive....
and even apart from that its weird argument, its like sayin, "well everyone else is polluting, so I might as well"...this is a known shit company with again, inhumane practices, buying this game just means you dont care, and if you dont care, I guess thats fine, we are fucked but at least admit then that you dont give two dimes about other people, just dont pretend, even to yourself, that you are a remotely good person.
Endless side quests aka WOW (this is fking Diablo, not WOW to do retarded crappy side quests); level scaling, meaning you no longer have 1-100 level monsters. All are your level, and building strong sets seems useless...
It doesn't mean the game is good or that the budget was well-spent, just that it cost a lot to make, and therefore that it's going to sell at a higher price than indie games.
AAA is 9 figures budget. E.g. 400,000,000 US Dollars