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[kuYuri]

http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=837814

More than 2.7 million players join the crusade against the Angel of Death with the launch of Diablo® III: Reaper of Souls™

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Malthael claimed that no one could stop Death . . . actually, Diablo® III players have already stopped Death more than 1.5 million times and counting. On March 25, players the world over launched a crusade against the fallen angel with the release of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls™ for Windows® and Mac®. As of the first week of the expansion's availability, more than 2.7 million copies have sold-through online and at retailers worldwide.*

Players, community personalities, and members of the press joined Blizzard to celebrate the expansion's release on the evening of March 24 at launch parties in Seoul, Taipei, Warsaw, Stockholm, and Los Angeles. The icy grasp of the Angel of Death reached players around the world through live streams from several of the events, with total Diablo III views on Twitch on launch day alone exceeding 2.4 million.†

"With Reaper of Souls, we wanted to emphasize all the things that Diablo gamers have always loved about the series, from the dark gothic setting to the piles and piles of epic loot," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're excited to see that players are enjoying the changes we've made to the game, and we look forward to achieving our Paragon levels alongside everyone else in the weeks and months ahead."

Reaper of Souls continues the Diablo III story with a challenging new act that takes players from the legendary city of Westmarch to the unhallowed halls of the Pandemonium Fortress, culminating in an epic battle with Malthael, the Angel of Death. The expansion also adds the unstoppable Crusader class to Diablo III's roster of heroes, and increases the game's level cap to 70, adding several powerful spells and abilities for the original five hero classes.

Other new features in Reaper of Souls include Adventure Mode: a new game mode that allows players to choose their own path across Sanctuary in total freedom; Bounties: randomized objectives that award gold and experience; Nephalem Rifts: fast-paced randomized dungeons offering endless replayability and heaps of loot; and the Mystic: a powerful new artisan who provides gear-customization options.

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is available for purchase in retail stores throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as digitally around the world via the game's official website (http://www.diablo3.com/reaperofsouls). The expansion will launch in Russia and the CIS, and at retail stores in Mexico, Chile, and Brazil, on April 15. Reaper of Souls has been fully localized in English, German, French, Latin American Spanish, European Spanish, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Italian, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese.
With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has numerous positions currently available—visit http://jobs.blizzard.com for more information and to learn how to apply.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's track record includes sixteen #1-selling games* and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.

*Based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners.
†Source: Twitch.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about scheduled release dates, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Pretty impressive I guess, looking forward to getting it still.

 

[Arkanius]

Congratulations where it worth.
They are finally fixing Diablo 3

 

[plutoknight]

While that's a high number, that seems comparatively low for a Blizzard game expansion. Does anyone have numbers for other expansions (WoW probably excluded since..well..those are 'required')?

Could just be my morning brain not working.

 

[LiK]

Damn, not bad

 

[water_wendi]

Congrats. ive heard its been mostly fixed but i feel no urge to even reinstall to see the loot changes.

 

[Dawg]

While that's a high number, that seems comparatively low for a Blizzard game expansion. Does anyone have numbers for other expansions (WoW probably excluded since..well..those are 'required')?

Could just be my morning brain not working.

Heart of the Swarm sold 1.1m in just two days, not sure how much it did in a week.

 

[Kacho]

But posters on the Blizz forums were sure this would bomb. :lol

Congrats to Blizz though. Hell of an expansion. While not perfect just yet, they've made huge strides in making D3 an enjoyable experience.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

Well deserved ROS and 2.0 have fixed Diabo III and it's a joy to play right now.

 

[PranooY]

Well deserved, but still... Damn!

 

[SparkTR]

While that's a high number, that seems comparatively low for a Blizzard game expansion. Does anyone have numbers for other expansions (WoW probably excluded since..well..those are 'required')?

Could just be my morning brain not working.

It seems in-line with their expansions. At least Starcaft HotS sold 1.1 million in two days.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Deserves it. For an expansion of a game that many people will not happy with originally, that's a great number.

 

[darkside31337]

Number seems really low compared to what the original game sold in its first week and for its lifetime. I'm one of those folks never coming back after what I played of Diablo 3 on PC.

Spoiler

Because I thought the game was way more fun on console so I'm waiting for the PS4 version.

 

[PhillipCostigan]

good job Blizzard. It's bloody fantastic, deserves its sales.

 

[Mechanized]

Cool. Next expansion/content patch should add the Necromancer class back in. Or Druids. Those should be top priority.

 

[Nirolak]

While that's a high number, that seems comparatively low for a Blizzard game expansion. Does anyone have numbers for other expansions (WoW probably excluded since..well..those are 'required')?

Could just be my morning brain not working.

Historically speaking Blizzard expacs (for games that aren't MMOs) end up with a ~50% attach rate LTD relative to the base game they were noting, so this kind of debut should be fine for that.

 

[gruenel]

It'll be at least 2,700,001 once they release the PS4 version.

Spoiler

Just give me a release date, Blizz :/

 

[Dawg]

Number seems really low compared to what the original game sold in its first week and for its lifetime. I'm one of those folks never coming back after what I played of Diablo 3 on PC.

Spoiler

Because I thought the game was way more fun on console so I'm waiting for the PS4 version.

To be fair, Diablo III had insane hype.

 

[gigantor21]

Holy fuck. :O

 

[Zaptruder]

It's everything that Diablo 3 vanilla should've been.

Spoiler

I'm already kinda bored of it. *shrug*

 

[chickdigger802]

its good stuff... but am curious how big of a deal loot 2.0 is to the whole package quality and to the sales...

i didn't even preorder until 2 nights before it hit because i was having a ton of fun with the new loot system.

 

[Dark_castle]

Good for them I guess.

RoS still has a lot of issues and personal gripes, but after patch 2.0.1 and the expansion, D3 is a much better game than its vanilla release.

 

[Lernaean]

Good for them because loot 2 and RoS is where the game should be from the beginning.
But reading the title i thought that 2.7 mil is low for a whole week of a Blizzard expansion and reading the responses i see i'm not the only one.
Hope word of mouth goes out and more people try it cause it really is worth it at the moment.

 

[styl3s]

I won't pat them on the back and tell them good job for getting Diablo 3 where it should of been when it came out 2 years ago. It's nice to see they did remove the abomination known as the auction house and it's nice to see the game has semi-end game but it still lacks trading and that's a huge problem with me. Trading was a big part of Diablo and Diablo 2. "Bind on account" is a MMO term not a ARPG term, that shouldn't exist in a ARPG.

Hopefully the 2.7 million lights a little under their ass and they continue to improve the game, it's much, much better then it was pre-expansion but it still has a ways to go.

Good for them because loot 2 and RoS is where the game should be from the beginning.
But reading the title i thought that 2.7 mil is low for a whole week of a Blizzard expansion and reading the responses i see i'm not the only one.
Hope word of mouth goes out and more people try it cause it really is worth it at the moment.

That and adventure mode should of been there and the AH should never of existed.

I am still extremely pissed they took out trading and implemented yet another MMO aspect (like the AH) with the bind on account bullshit. Yeah, loot is better but people still want to trade and it's nice that most the gear i find is tailored towards the class i am playing at that time but i would also kind of like to find gear for other characters. It cuts back on farming. Either let drops for all characters on your account at the same level drop or give us an option. I wouldn't mind finding DH/WD stuff while farming with my Wizard.

 

[QuantumZebra]

Well deserved ROS and 2.0 have fixed Diabo III and it's a joy to play right now.

This is truth... if I weren't utterly addicted to ESO I'd be playing this more

 

[AllIsOneIsNone]

It's everything that Diablo 3 vanilla should've been.

Spoiler

I'm already kinda bored of it. *shrug*

It's because Diablo 3 no longer has any social aspects; it's essentially a single player game with co-op. The development of this game has been straight up bi-polar. I don't regret the purchase though, it's better than it was before.

 

[zoukka]

Wait there's no trading of any kind ?

 

[Mrbob]

The power of Blizzard to sell. In terms of selling core games I don't know of anyone better.

Good for them because loot 2 and RoS is where the game should be from the beginning.
But reading the title i thought that 2.7 mil is low for a whole week of a Blizzard expansion and reading the responses i see i'm not the only one.
Hope word of mouth goes out and more people try it cause it really is worth it at the moment.

The best thing Blizzard did was run bonus XP for a couple weeks before RoS was out to get people back in. Adventure Mode is great end game. Crazy how far this game has come.

Wait there's no trading of any kind ?

You can trade items with friends but you must literally be playing with them. Get a 2 hour window before a legs gets bound to your account.

 

[Miletius]

Wait there's no trading of any kind ?

You can trade loot between party members for a certain amount of time after the loot has dropped. Other than that, no trading.

And yeah, the game is much better than it was before, all things considered.

 

[Lernaean]

Wait there's no trading of any kind ?

You can trade with the people you play with, items are on a timer so you can't trade with some random a couple of days later.

 

[Dolor]

Obligatory: It would've been more if it was on Steam too.

 

[SpiceMelange]

You can trade loot between party members for a certain amount of time after the loot has dropped. Other than that, no trading.

And yeah, the game is much better than it was before, all things considered.

That's just false. You can trade yellows (which can easily become very good with cheap enchant cost, and you will want a 15% elemental / skill in each possible item slot) you can trade whites which may sound silly but they are actually in demand (for example I want every white archon sash possible to craft that attack speed belt). Gems are also tradeable as a pseudo-currency.

 

[Oppo]

And still not even a PS4 date.

Sometimes I wish Bliz games wouldn't sell so damn well because the money has given them a glacial development speed.

 

[Morokh]

And how many did already drop the game after a few days ?

Game is better, but all in all barely what would have been considered acceptable at launch ... maybe.

The core of the game is still very much too 'action game with some (finally half decent) loot' and not enough 'Action RPG' like it's predecessors.

I'm already done with it, I wanted to try the new class but playing the campaign, and some bounty runs were enough to see that I simply don't want to play this game anymore.

 

[JudgeN]

Seems like alright sales but I feel like they need to add more content to there "expansion packs". A 3 hour campaign/adventure mode/1 class doesn't constitute $40, I was expecting more.

 

[Ashtar]

I'm waiting on the PS4 version....

 

[Barzul]

I bought it.

 

[plutoknight]

Historically speaking Blizzard expacs (for games that aren't MMOs) end up with a ~50% attach rate LTD relative to the base game they were noting, so this kind of debut should be fine for that.

Thanks for the insight! Sounds like it's pretty much inline with normal then.

Reaper of Souls is very well done, so it is well-deserved.

 

[Dead Prince]

much deserved. i just need more time than weekends to play D;

 

[*offensive_nickname*]

attach rate?

how many copys of diablo 3 were sold?

Spoiler

without the multiple gold farmer and botter purchases ofc

 

[Ingeniero]

Perfect, kudos for them for fixing the game.
I hope it sells at least 10 million.

 

[Finaika]

PC gaming is dead!

 

[piratethingy]

I will pay $60 day 1 for my triple dip.

Just GIVE ME XBONE

 

[manfestival]

I want RoS but im gonna wait for a price drop tbh, I do love the new loot system though. Makes the game far more appealing than having to farm gold endlessly in hopes of getting a new item that might be ok so you can sell it to get more gold to eventually get 1 really good item.

 

[Mrbob]

attach rate?

how many copys of diablo 3 were sold?

Spoiler

without the multiple gold farmer and botter purchases ofc

I believe diablo 3 sold about 6 million first week. Wouldn't be surprised if reaper of souls is the best selling game of March worldwide.

 

[Struct09]

I thought Diablo III vanilla was pretty good already, but Loot 2.0 + ROS puts it in another league. The game is so much fun to play now, well done Blizzard.

 

[SaberEdge]

Wow, those are some impressive sales.

 

[Oni Link 666]

It's a great expansion with a lot to do. I love the new areas so much. The music and the atmosphere in those new areas is just fantastic.

 

[scoobs]

If they hadn't royally screwed up vanilla D3, theyd have sold so much more. They're in the process of winning their player-base back w/ all these amazing updates though.

 

[Minions]

Still waiting for the PS4 release. It's gotta be coming soon I'd hope. That is a pretty good number though. Should have some decent legs.

 

[Crisco]

I'll probably double dip with the PS4 version too. The idea of local co-op is just too enticing.