No date yet, but surely we will all know soon enough!
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/events/diablo3-announcement/index.html#summary
Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for is nigh upon us. During the last public conference call Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime announced that he would reveal more details about the Diablo 3 beta at the next financial results conference call. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) intends to release its first quarter 2011 results on Monday, after the closing of the market this past week.
Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime
As for Diablo III, development continues to go well, and we’re very excited about the game. Our most recent public showcase for Diablo III was at the G-Star show in Korea, where demo stations attracted huge lines of players. I’m looking forward to sharing some more news about the game and our upcoming beta on the next call,” said Mike Morhaime on February 9th, 2011. “Finally, I wanted to remind everyone that we just announced our BlizzCon show for 2011, which will be taking place on October 21 and 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Our shows keep getting better and better every year, and we are looking forward to meeting with our players and sharing exciting news about Blizzard at the event.
Mike Morhaime, President of Blizzard, suggested recently in an interview that Diablo 3 might make an appearance on console gaming systems. “Every game we have the discussion about which platforms make the most sense. As Diablo 3 takes shape, I think we’ll do an evaluation. I think there is a pretty good argument to be made that that type of game might work very well on consoles. There might be some technical limitations though that we might need to get past.” However, there has been no official confirmation or press release regarding the issue, just exciting speculations that drive hardcore Diablo fans wild.
PC PowerPlay’s article on Diablo 3 pretty much highlights everything we already know, but it also touches base on some of the recent heated debates about the color palette chosen for the aesthetics of the Diablo 3 environment. It also sheds light on a couple reasons behind some of the unique concepts that drew such a large fan base to the Diablo series. Grab high quality scans of the article and artwork (thanks to flux@dii.net) after the jump!
Bashiok announced on the World of Warcraft forums that there will be a system put in place for Diablo 3 players to reset their skill points, allowing more ease of experimentation with skill points as you gain, or even just allowing you room to mess up once in a while, and not have to make a brand new character as a consequence.
Also, Bashiok notes that the system that will be put in place for Diablo 3 will not be identical to the World of Warcraft respec system, and players will not be able to respec their characters so liberally.
“There will almost definitely be some sort of system to respec; however, it isn’t likely to be as liberal as World of Warcraft. We don’t want to lock a player into a system that punishes them for mistakes, experimenting, or lack of knowledge early on in the game. We also don’t think a system that allows immediate, complete, and at-a-whim changes to a character spec matches the feel of Diablo. It’s likely to be somewhere in between.
That said we still feel like the desire to play the same class again that you may have played before is still a part of the game, and with some ability to respec could potentially require other incentives. “
Of course, this is probably old news to you by now. But, for posterity’s sake, the first article in the Diablo 3 Knowledge Base details the announcement of Diablo 3′s development at Blizzard’s WWI in Paris, France.
Blizzard released an official synposis and features list during the discussions at the event:
Two decades have passed since the demonic denizens, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, wandered the world of Sanctuary in a vicious rampage to shackle humanity into unholy slavery. Yet for those who battled the Prime Evils directly, the memory fades slowly and the wounds of the soul still burn.
When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram’s Cathedral seeking clues to new stirrings of evil, a comet from the heavens strikes the very ground where Diablo once entered the world. The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the mortal world against the rising powers of the Burning Hells–and even the failing luminaries of the High Heavens itself.
* Explore a fully-realized Sanctuary–the living, breathing gothic fantasy world of Diablo III rendered in gorgeous 3D.
* Battle the unholy forces of the Burning Hells with all-new character classes like the otherworldly Witch Doctor, or with re-imagined warriors from Diablo’s past: such as the fierce Barbarian.
* Rain Hell on your enemies wielding the interactive environment as a weapon: lay cunning traps, turn destructible objects against your foes, and use environmental obstacles to your advantage–all powered by the Havoc physics system.
* Experience the intensity of multiplayer Diablo III over an all-new, wickedly-enhanced Battle.net platform with numerous enhancements to make connecting with your friends easier–and cooperative gameplay more fun.
Obviously, there is currently no scheduled release date, but they stated that Diablo 3 has already been in development for several years, which started shortly after the closing of Blizzard North.
Official Diablo 3 Screenshots coming next!
