Diablo III projected to sell 3.5 million units in 2012

With Diablo III launching later this month, analysts have begun weighing in on what the commercial reception will amount to in terms of units sold.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia (via GI.biz) estimates the game will sell 3.5m copies in 2012 alone, and will end up moving around or beyond 4m units for its lifetime figures.

"We think Diablo III, which is releasing after a gap of 12 years since the launch of Diablo II, has the potential to sell more than 4 million units life-time,” Bhatia explained. We note that Diablo II had sold 4m units by August 2001 or 14 months following its initial release in June 2010."

Diablo III and its auction houses arrive May 15th for PC and OS X.