Blizzard Entertainment's recent open beta for Overwatch drew huge crowds, attracting a whopping 9.7 million players.

Overwatch set a new record with this beta, topping previous record-setters The Division and Destiny. As a reminder, The Division beta hit 6.4 million players, while the Destiny beta saw 4.6 million players back in 2014.

The Overwatch open beta was only available for a few days. Blizzard kicked off the open beta on May 5 and it was initially supposed to last until May 9. The great hype and interest it stirred, however, prompted the company to extend the open beta by another day, until May 10.

With 9.7 players counted, it seems that was a great move.

Cheers to the incredible 9.7 MILLION of you who joined us in the @PlayOverwatch Open Beta! Thank you, heroes pic.twitter.com/RVug4KsFE4

— Blizzard Ent (@Blizzard_Ent) May 12, 2016

"We're thrilled that such an incredible number of players from around the globe got a chance to check out Overwatch during the Open Beta," says Blizzard co-founder and CEO, Mike Morhaime. "Our mission was to make sure as many console and PC gamers as possible could experience the full game ahead of its launch - the response was overwhelming, and we hope that everyone had a blast."

Blizzard further notes that those 9.7 million players who joined the Overwatch open beta played more than 37 million matches in total, across 81 million hours of gameplay. That would translate to roughly 8 hours of game time for each player.

Although the open beta ran from May 5 to 10 only, it offered all 21 heroes from the full game, complete with a number of exciting stages to keep gamers engaged before the game's launch later this month. The open beta also included 12 maps and four game modes and was available on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

With such an overwhelming success for the open beta, Blizzard apparently hit the jackpot with its new title. The full game launch should draw even bigger crowds, and it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against Battleborn and other competitors.

All in all, the highly successful Overwatch open beta proves that accessibility does not have to be an issue, new players are welcome and online shooters can fit all skill levels. We're looking forward to the game's full launch on May 24 and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, so stay tuned.