Diablo IV had the biggest beta in series history, says Blizzard

Diablo IV's beta period recently ended, and that means it's time for statistics. Blizzard Entertainment released a graphic on Twitter showing that across the two betas that took place during the month of March, total playtime came to 62 million hours. 

That's rounding up from 61.56 million, but the point remains: ahead of its June 2 release, Diablo IV has an impressive player count. And per Blizzard, those numbers make it the "largest beta in Diablo franchise history." 

And while not entirely comparable, that almost certainly puts it over the 20 million installs of last year's mobile game Diablo Immortal started with.

Other noteworthy facts featured in the graphic include the number of player deaths (nearly 50 million) and the two most popular player classes (Sorcerer and Necromancer). 

Diablo IV (and Blizzard) needed a win

Diablo IV is the first mainline entry in the series since Diablo III back in 2012, making these numbers all the more notable. For a game with a tumultuous development cycle in more ways than one, this information helps assuage some concerns developers reportedly had back in December about how the final product would be received. 

Beyond that, the game is releasing at a time when Microsoft is attempting to buy its parent company, Activision Blizzard. The acquisition has been under scrutiny by many, in part due to Activision Blizzard's alleged "frat boy culture" that led to several employees departing, including Diablo IV's original director Luis Barriga.

Earlier in the month, general manager Rod Fergusson confirmed the game wouldn't be coming to Xbox Game Pass for the foreseeable future. Across all systems, the game will launch at retail for $70.