I have a feeling this is what they call ‘business sense’. Game makes money, make more game. Diablo 3 sold 12 million copies in 2012 – a two mil increase since November – and so Blizzard will continue to “support the franchise and the community”.
“The launch of the game back in May had a tremendous impact on Blizzard and our community,” Blizzard sovereign Mike Morhaime told investors last night. “Diablo 3 broke PC games sales records, and as of the end of the year has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.
“While this is a humbling achievement, we’re not satisfied with merely breaking sales records. The development team has worked aggressively to update the game since launch, adding new content, systems, game features and other improvements.”
Morhaime pointed to the upcoming Diablo 3 patch 1.0.7, which introduces graveyard duelling – a favourite lunch break pastime at PCGamesN – to the game.
“Diablo is extremely important to Blizzard and we will continue to invest aggressively to support the franchise and the community,” he finished, before vanishing under a wave of irrelevant questions about Skylanders and smart TVs.
Where would you like to see Blizzard fight fire with cash in Diablo 3? Better drop tweaks? Continued auction house and botting moderation? More extensive PvP? Or a full-blown expansion?