We mentioned it yesterday, we reminded you today, and now we’re finally in the know about when Blizzard is planning on letting rabid gamers gets their first hands on time with Diablo 3. During an investor call this afternoon, Blizzard President Michael Morhaime finally let the details out our first opportunity to play the upcoming, long-awaited game.
It was almost two weeks ago that we were given our first glimmer of hope when Diablo 3’s Director, Jay Wilson, announced that Diablo 3 was in the home stretch of development. Apparently, home stretch meant sliding into home base as Morhaime revealed today that company wide testing has officially begun on the long awaited title.
A third quarter release for the beta would mean that gamers will get their first chance to play the game sometime between August and October. Considering that BlizzCon was announced to take place on October 21-22, 2011, it would be a great venue for them to announce that the beta is ready to go. If the beta were to start immediately after BlizzCon, the full Diablo 3 release will likely not be in time for a 2011 launch.
“I am pleased to report that we began internal company-wide testing last week. The game is looking great, and we are currently targeting a Q3 launch for external beta testing.”
Morhaime remained adamant that the development team was aiming for a 2011 launch however, so the beta could take place sooner, as Blizzard will likely want to give fans as much time as possible with the game before releasing it. As always, Blizzard’s own policy of not releasing a pristine product is going to take precedence.
Diablo 2 released in 2000, and its expansion Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction entered gamers hands shortly after in 2001. In some ways, this release mirrors the more-than-a-decade long wait fans needed to endure for StarCraft 2. Thankfully, Blizzard’s fans are passionately patient, and if their past track record is any indication, Diablo 3’s release will be well worth the wait.
“The development team is working hard to try to launch Diablo 3 this year, but I want to be clear that we do not have an official release date or window yet. As always we will not compromise the quality of the game in order to hit a window.”
Are you going to be signing up for Diablo 3’s beta when it’s officially released?
Diablo 3 will be released for the PC and Mac hopefully in 2011, but possibly in 2012.
Source: Gamasutra
