exQUIZitely 🕹️@exQUIZitely
The Diablo franchise will turn 30 this year. It ranks among the most successful and highest-grossing game franchises of all time.
Over 100 million copies have been sold across the four main games (including expansion sets), bringing the franchise close to US$3 billion in total revenue.
Diablo IV alone generated US$666 million in global sell-through revenue in its first five days after release in June 2023, making it Blizzard's fastest-selling game ever at the time.
Now, here comes the real kicker: Within one year of Diablo IV's release, revenue from microtransactions had already surpassed the combined lifetime revenue of Diablo I and Diablo II. Let that sink in - not from the original sale of the game, but purely from in-game purchases, Diablo IV is dwarfing the first two entries in the series combined.
Sales figures for games still matter, but mainly as an indicator of the multiplier that can be applied to in-game microtransaction revenue; that endless stream of dollars pouring into mega-corporations, powered by quick dopamine hits from microtransactions.
With younger generations growing up in an essentially cashless society, the perceived value of money has declined. If you’ve never held a $100 bill (let alone earned one), it's easy to forget what it really means. It becomes just a number on a credit card bill.
When in-game transactions are small (single-digit amounts) they feel like almost nothing… but in the end, they add up to billions for those who design games that are meticulously streamlined and fine-tuned to guide players toward yet another microtransaction… and another… and another.
Maybe after all those cover images on the game boxes are more fitting than we know.
