The newest release in the Starcraft series sold more than 1.1 million copies within its first two days of release.

Although that figure is approximate, it accounts for digital and physical sales, and those sales saw the game hit the charts and go straight to number 3 this week.

Blizzard chief executive Mike Morhaime says the new title’s popularity comes from a wealth of new content and extras.

“We want to thank the global Starcraft community for the incredible passion and support they’ve shown for Heart of the Swarm. In addition to a brand-new single-player campaign, we added a ton of enhancements with this expansion to make Starcraft II even more fun to play, and more exciting to watch.”

I’ll admit I’ve never understood the love some people have for watching others play video games, but the figures from gaming web-TV channel Twitch are equally huge.

More than 1.1 million people tuned in to watch the launch of the game on Twitch alone, and the station had concurrent viewers reaching the 125,000 mark.

Twitch boss Kevin Lin says Starcraft II is always a popular game at the station anyway, which is unsurprising given the game’s massive international audience.

“Starcraft II has always been one of the most popular games on Twitch, and we’ve noticed a wave of new viewership since Heart of the Swarm launched last week.”

If you’re yet to purchase or play Heart of the Swarm, keep checking back here at TechDay for my review of the game which should be live by next week.

If you have played the game, why not give us your impressions below – does it live up to the high expectations raised by Wings of Liberty?