Gamers invested 8.34 billion hours in Blizzard titles in 2024, study says

Blizzard This week it published its year-end review report, in which it revealed details about how players interacted with its titles in 2024. To that end, it revealed several statistics about player achievements in its various games, including World of Warcraft , Diablo and Overwatch. According to the study, gamers invested around 8.34 billion hours in total on their games, or around 952,000 years.

Some of the stats are a bit silly, like the one that reveals that Overwatch 2 players spent over 203 years on the game’s new matchup maps, or that Diablo IV saw 480 million player deaths. The study also reveals more sober statistics, such as the aforementioned playing time, as well as the $12.3 million he donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation with proceeds from the sale of the “Pink Mercy” skin in Overwatch 2.

Given that it’s been a rough year for live service titles, it’s notable that Blizzard maintains a steady interest in its own live service games. 2024 has seen announcements of the closure of titles such as Concord, XDefiant, Foamstars and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. But Blizzard titles seem to keep players’ attention consistent enough to post such high stats.

Blizzard president Johanna Faries said in a statement: “2024 was also a big year for Blizzard releases, including World of Warcraft’s multi-expansion story arc, Worldsoul Saga, with the release of The War Within, followed of a truly amazing anniversary celebration that spanned the entire Warcraft universe, including WoW Modern and Classic, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble… Earlier this year, we were delighted to bring the games of Blizzard back to mainland China. in partnership with NetEase. “We are delighted to be able to serve our players in China once again and successfully welcome so many of them to both World of Warcraft and Hearthstone in the region.”