Diablo 3 Beta Release Date

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 withDiablo 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′sDirector, Jay Wilson, announced that Diablo 3was 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 toplay 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.


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.