Now, this does not guarantee that Blizzard will not be releasing Diablo this year. What it means is that they are not sure if it will be and therefore, do not want to include it in their current financial plans. They did say, however, that "if a title is not released this year, that they would be releasing two titles in 2012".
Separately, someone asked why no revenue from Diablo was included. The response was basically that it is still unknown on its release date.
After the initial information, Mike Morhaime spoke about Blizzard specifically. He stated that they were very excited about Diablo III and that development continues to move forward. Unfortunately, we did not get anything specific about any dates or its progress. However, more information about Diablo III and its beta will be discussed at the next conference call in May.
Mike Morhaime also answered a question about Diablo's progress and a possible release date. His response was that they were still very excited about Diablo. The reason for the mystery behind any dates is that they are waiting for initial responses from Beta before they announce any dates. Basically, if beta goes well, it would push their plans forward and if there were multiple things they want to change, it would push the date back.
On a more speculative conclusion of this, a summer beta would be logical given that it will be talked about in the next conference call. June 28th continues to be an important date for Diablo and may follow this trend with a possible Beta start date. This would put a six month Beta finishing at the end of the year in December. This late date may be why they did not include Diablo in their financial plan for this year. The success or issues with Beta may make this date very tangible for this year or the next. Again, they did not say that Diablo will not be released this year. However, an early 2012 release is now looking more realistic according to this new information.
We can all look forward, from this point, to the next conference call in May when a date for Beta should be announced giving us a more accurate guess of the release date.
*update*
Official Blizzard Quote:
I want to make sure it’s clear that what was stated on the investor conference call was this: Blizzard has not announced a release date for its next global release. IF we don’t release a major title in 2011, then for planning purposes we would expect to launch 2 titles in 2012.
This has been misreported/misinterpreted as an announced release schedule for 2011 and 2012, which it is not. While we’re pleased with the progress of Diablo III, we have not announced a release date for it or for any other upcoming Blizzard game. We’re currently contacting a number of outlets to request that they make the appropriate corrections in order to avoid any further confusion.
What Bashiok is telling us is that we shouldn't rule out a 2011 release, but we shouldn't be too excited about having the game this year either.
You can feel bummed if you really want to but I don't see a reason. Patience is a virtue. If every time something doesn't go your way you throw a temper tantrum then I guess you should work on that because things rarely go as planned. This is just a game...a successor to a brilliant ARPG on which I myself have spent the last 10 years...but a game nontheless. Is it going to change your life terribly if it doesn't come in time? I don't think so.
I'm with that damn Hamster on this one...release Q1 2012.
SHIP THE GAME, D*MN IT. Quit dicking around!!
Edit: I don't care that it's more concrete news. I've been waiting for this game since I was a child. Can you grasp that? I grew up in less time than it took for Diablo 3 to be developed!
You're forgetting that the Diablo 3 that the original Blizzard North team developed failed the quality tests and was completely scrapped. The actual development started around 2005 (with some art pieces going all the way back to 2004).
PS. Who cares how many American children were born during that time anyway? If you wanted a really big number you should check China. There's lotsa kids being born there.
Now now my friend, this is just fancy PR/advertisement talk.
Lots of fluff and zero substance. And there they go with the 'IFs' and what nots.
The only relevant news to me is:
2011 full-year guidance does not include a major title release during the period from Blizzard Entertainment.
Ta-da! There you go. Simple, clear and to the point.
Obviously that's just me.
Others are welcome to draw any conclusions they wish.
Duke Nukem Forever will be released before Diablo 3.
My 2 cents..
I'm pretty sure they are not lying and I never said so myself. However the statements to explain the statement was in my mind quite funny.
Which is why i called it fancy talk..you know- to keep everybody happy with carefully chosen words and sentences.
Should this happen, this will happen. If this happens, then this will happen.
It's always a good thing to consider all the possibilities, especially when Diablo 3 development rate and release remain so uncertain.
2012 verdict it is indeed.
Werehamster might win should it be true. Some skillful talking/writing there. :turned:
And I do think they're ready for a beta. Recently we found out all skills and runes are in and working, and back at Blizzcon we found out that you can walk through the entire game. Add another 4ish months until the next conference call and a month or two until the beta starts and thats about 4/5 months until they have to have it ready for beta, and then another 6 months after that to get the game ready to ship. If they don't by then I might start agreeing that they need to pick up the pace, but from what we know right now that seems like a perfectly reasonable release plan. Not to mention its also perfectly reasonable for them to determine the release date based on the feedback from the beta.
Wow, Don, you really can't resist the revisionist history spin, can you? And, as always, you have zero links or really any form of documentation to back it up.
Here's the facts:
Almost all of the management left in June 2003, about two years after "Lord" shipped. This group was led by a guy who had come up from Irvine just a year or so previous to that.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6132807.html
At this point, the game had already had significant work done, and some features revealed in 2008 were familiar to at least one member of the team at that point:
"while some of the concepts we were developing definitely looks like it made it through to the version of the game they displayed..."
http://www.mikehuang.com/blog/2008/06/diablo-iii-announced.html
This group had two years before being shut down, and we have at least some concept art which clearly shows a date of "2004" which you yourself have posted.
So, two years with the old management, led by a guy who was recently shipped up from Irvine, and two years with this group with little management experience.
Now, six years later - more than three times the time either of those groups had, we're still no closer to release than we were at any point. That's despite seven billion dollars of revenue at least for B since then.
Still, you insist on slamming some of the guys that actually made Diablo II, calling them "drama queens". I understand fanboiitis - but it is genuinely disappointing to see someone as clearly bright as yourself act so low. Care to explain, or offer even one link supporting your character assassination?
And if we buy your "year zero" theory - which goes directly against images you yourself post here and the words of someone on the team - who do we blame, then?
- SC2 development started in 2003, and the game was put on hold in 2005 before restarting at the end of the year. Not including the year it was put on hold thats about six years of development, and there wasn't a leadership change early on in development. (2003-2010)
- Development of WoW took 5 years and, again, didn't include a leadership change early on in development.
- Development of WC3 took about 4.5 years. (Early 1998-June 2002)
So for one of their games to take seven years to make with a complete change in management (and again, thats assuming that things just went smoothly after the management left, while it was probably more like the game was put on hold for that year) compared to their other development cycles really isn't nearly as outrageous as you're making it seem. Sure there may be systems in place that were there early on in development, just like theres also systems that were present in D2. What has been completely changed is the art style, the rune system, the storyline and therefore setting of the 4 acts of the game, the character classes, the unique resources for each class and almost certainly a few more systems I'm either forgetting or we don't know about. Go look up some stuff from early in D3 development. It really looks nothing like the game we're seeing today.
And carrying over concept art from before 2005 doesn't really mean that they carried over anything else, and carrying over concept art certainly doesn't count as continuing development from before 2005. Not to mention Don acknowledged that there was concept art from 2004.
Jzor, that's all reasonable - even if it directly contradicts the post I linked from someone actually on the team.
So, who are the "drama queens"? The inexperienced team that had only two years to try to make it work? Or is this yet another flagship slam? Roper, in an interview this week, seems to be leading the crap-on-flagship parade personally, at this point.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6281/bill_roper_reflections_on_hellgate.php
Funny how his "reflections" don't include mention of the fact that he was only up at Blizzard North for a year or so before the management left.
I really want to read Don's explanation of his schoolyard attack.
And quality surely is not the reason. Blizzard's stuff, in any objective criteria you use, are absolutly superior to anything the other sgements of the market may offer. And most of this other segments have
And quality surely is not the reason. Blizzard's stuff, in any objective criteria you use, are NOT absolutly superior to anything the other segments of the market may offer. And most of this other segments have more constant stream of products.
They know that. It was promised "one game in every year". When a company announce this kinda of stuff to the fanbase and investors it should be scuped on stone. If you don't have what it takes to release a triple A every year, don't say you will.
As a fan i'm pissed. I was expecting one release each year. Looks like it was bullshit to calmdown the hate wave because of SC2's delay.
Edit: Sorry, forgot a "not" right there. Sorry for the double post too (having serious internet issues).
News does not equal good news. I admire your optimism, I really do. But I do not share it and here's why: Blizzard does not seem to appreciate the importance of deadlines, and how they impact their customers. I do not see the conference call as anything resembling a deadline. I develop and test software for Cisco systems, and have worked for Sierra Games and a couple other startups you wouldn't have heard of. Across all these software companies, there was universal agreement that time-to-market is an essential part of developing software.
Quality is the most important. Yes, yes, always. But again, more time does not necessarily yield more quality. In fact, when developers know that large-scale re-writes are on the table, they are less inclined to commit themselves to ideas, and thus the ideas are weakened. So allowing re-writes can actually cause re-writes, and this is an important point.
Bottom line is, strict project management should dictate development. You should see our project slates. Hundreds of milestones, with mitigation plans, including adding/shifting resources (people), to account for schedule slippages. Aggressive milestones brings the best out of a group of people. We create some of the most brilliant products ever devised.
Now you may be saying, "how do you know Blizzard doesn't have milestones?" Look, they probably do (though I'm really not sure). Here's my point: No matter how you look at it, your customers drive your business! Take what time you need, yes, but communicate your major milestones to customers. If you don't, customers lose faith in your integrity to develop and deliver quality software. The fact that it takes Blizzard SO long to develop a quality product says what about their ability as developers?
In closing, Blizzard is not Vincent van Gogh in a shoddy Paris apartment crafting masterpieces on his brother's dime. They're a publicly traded company driven by demand for their products. They scoff at commitments, and they scoff at deadlines, because they don't feel accountable to their own reason for existing: Their customers.
All that verbiage, and not a single quote that backs up the "drama queens" assertion nor a single thing that contradicts what Huang wrote. You even have your facts screwed up - Wilson didn't join that team until over a year after it was shut down. "Development of the current engine begun in 2005" - Huh? Source? And in some cases, your logic is just bizarre: "They had everyone at Blizzard working on the game..." So, BN was working on something else or not? Did the team after the flagship departures have a chance to get it right, or was everyone too distracted by WoW? Do you really think their RTS experts would be useful working on an MMO? If you're just going to make up your facts without a single link, at least be consistent.
As for this: "leaving a financially stable game development company because of some disagreements with some "suits" over at Vivendi seems like a really emotional choice (opposed to a rational one)."
How do you know who left and who was fired? As always, you're conflating two (and sort of three) different groups of people and events two years apart without offering a single bit of documentation for it. And you're engaging in mind-reading without a single direct quote from the people involved. The best you can do is speculative quotes from a guy who left years before the shutdown and one who joined over a year later. That, and a vague and qualified phrase "kind of..." from someone who doesn't have a credit on a single Diablo game. It's one thing to engage in assumptions, another thing to readjust facts to fit those assumptions, and another thing to engage in character assassination on top of those assumptions.