Diablo III was expected to do well, but with so many factors to take into account -- competition from Torchlight II, an always-online requirement, and complaints about a supposedly dumbed-down skill system and colorful art style -- it was hard to say for sure exactly how well it would do. It turns out it did tremendously well; Blizzard has announced the long-awaited sequel has already broken sales records, something the folks over at Activision are pretty accustomed to thanks to Call of Duty. However, Diablo's success may have more far-reaching effects than simply ensuring Blizzard and company are flush with cash.

More than 3.5 million copies of the game were sold in its first 24 hours of availability, according to Blizzard. This figure does not include the freebie digital versions handed out to those who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass. Over 1.2 million people took advantage of that offer, bringing the total number of gamers with a copy of the game on launch day up to 4.7 million, good enough to make it the "biggest PC game launch in history." After the first week, that figure now sits at 6.3 million.