Diablo 3 Release Date

[Jedimindtrixxx]

is pushed back to early 2012.

We commonly use the term “soon” when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we’re working to reach a target, we’re not going to compromise and launch a game before it’s ready. For Diablo III, we were aiming to launch by the end of 2011. As we’re announcing globally today, our new target for the game is early 2012.

While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful that Diablo III would ship this year. We were too. However, this week we pulled together people from all of the teams involved with the game to decide whether we felt it would be ready before the end of December, and we grudgingly came to the conclusion that it would not. Ultimately, we feel that to deliver an awesome Diablo sequel that lives up to our expectations and yours as well, we should take a little more time and add further polish to a few different elements of the game.

The upside of today’s announcement is that we will be running the beta test longer than we initially planned, which will allow us to invite more of you who have opted in.

For those taking on the Diableard challenge, we salute you -- and now fear for your well-being and personal hygiene. We hereby issue an official reprieve to all Diableard participants, including Blizzard employees, if you want to trim or otherwise manage the lower half of your face. We’d still love to see your beardly achievements, and we look forward to seeing more of your efforts as we move into 2012, but not to the detriment of your workplaces and significant others.

Thank you everyone for your support and anticipation for Diablo III. We’re still moving ahead at full pace, and we’ll be keeping you fully informed of any news and developments here at Diablo3.com, including the specific release date when the time comes, so stay tuned.

-Mike Morhaime

yeah... im not surprised. this IS blizzard we are dealing with. oh well more chance for getting into beta now i suppose.

Blog Link

 

[Dan]

I'm heartbroken.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

I'm heartbroken.

it was to be expected. and at least we know blizzard is actually trying to make the game good rather than release a bugged product. ive waited many years, 3 months isnt going to make too much of a difference.

 

[Sevion]

it was to be expected. and at least we know blizzard is actually trying to make the game good rather than release a bugged product. ive waited many years, 3 months isnt going to make too much of a difference.

Except for you attitude on Skype...

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

Except for you attitude on Skype...

Beta =/= Release, kthxbai

 

[tommerbob]

I wonder WTF Blizzard is doing over there besides twittling their thumbs for the past 4 years.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

I wonder WTF Blizzard is doing over there besides twittling their thumbs for the past 4 years.

They've stated that they are going to be making changes to the Demon Hunter, and apperently are still working on runes or something. also 4 years ago the only classes we knew about were barb and witch doc.

EDIT: Apperently the delay is because of battle.net. some guy says the game is more or less done, but the battle.net team needs more time, which is why the game dev team is still doing minor things, to try and polish the game further for release.

 

[Rhydian]

im more suprised by this than i ought to be. considering how many wow expansions i've sat through that have been delayed

 

[Sevion]

Beta =/= Release, kthxbai

'Twas joke, kthxbai.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

'Twas joke, kthxbai.

i still am upset about lack of beta wave invites tho . Gdamnit bliz!

 

[Dan]

On August 1st Jay spoke about a possible change in the rune system (adding affixes when they are socketed + starting off unattuned) and It has been confirmed to be the direction they went. Because this is an entire system being added, they need more time. Battle.net and the RMAH seem to be reasonable delayers as well. As far as bugs, those can be patched easily. There are no bugs that are gameplay stopping atm. I don't think you should expect any later than January tbh. They were ready for December, this pushback is going to put serious stress on their funding already.

 

[Bloodcount]

As we’re announcing globally today, our new target for the game is early 2012.

Perhaps they will make it like they did it with cataclysm and SCII ? Like, DIII comes out, followed by HOTS ? Time will tell. ^_^

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

i hope the distance between HOTS and D3 is AT LEAST a month, i dont think i can buy both at the same time and keep my sanity

 

[Dan]

what is HOTS ??

oh... Heart of the Swarm. You are sneaky.

 

[Bloodcount]

Another day, another beta invite disappointment.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

This is something we aren't likely to answer during the beta test. Ever. I know everyone's aching for a piece of the Diablo III action, but the testing process won't be well served if the forums are flooded daily with questions about beta invite waves. There is no predetermined schedule for the rate at which players get invited to test the game.

The Blizzard folk who are monitoring the concurrency trend of people online and playing, as well as the stability of the game servers, will do waves of invites as needed. When I say "as needed," I mean when the servers are stable and we're comfortable with the room we have to get more people in the game. We won't do waves of invites if we feel our infrastructure at any given time can't handle an increased concurrency.

Beyond that, there's really only an extra morsel of information -- small though it may be -- I can provide as to when invites might go out. They'll go out, as I said before, when we're comfortable with increasing concurrent players online. And they'll typically go out during standard business hours (9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Friday, North American Pacific time).

For those who make it in, I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do. We look forward to hearing your feedback. For those who don't make it in quickly, stay tuned for more information on other giveaways and promotions. Just try not to drive yourself crazy waiting to get in. Ultimately, this is just a test of a very small portion of the game to prepare us for the official launch, when everyone can play the full game!

Dont need to worry bout checking weekends

 

[AgentPaper]

Key word is "typically". Sure, most of the invites will go out during business hours, but there's a chance they'll go out at pretty much any time. Who knows, you could be missing valuable playing time RIGHT NOW!

Muahaha.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

Key word is "typically". Sure, most of the invites will go out during business hours, but there's a chance they'll go out at pretty much any time. Who knows, you could be missing valuable playing time RIGHT NOW!

Muahaha.

d/w i check every day of every minute, even though i know it wont be during said times, i just dont get dissapoint when its not there when i am checking during off times/days.

 

[Dan]

I keep throwing away beta invites. I have too many of them cluttering up my account page. It's really ridiculous, they should give some to somebody else.