We want to thank everyone who came to the site to get these updates and the 3,500 live viewers who listened to the podcast today. You can expect a lot more updates in the next coming months and plenty of beta coverage here at DiabloFans and through Force Strategy Gaming. There will be a recorded version of the live podcast later today for those of you who missed it. In the mean time, you can check out the slideshow presentation they gave, and if you're actually interested, you can take a look at this quarters' numbers. If you weren't able to listen into the live DiabloCast, you can listen to the recorded version now.
As I am sure most of you know by now, today @ 1:30 PST is the day of the Activision/Blizzard financial conference call. Now, normally there is not a lot of interesting information during these calls for us DIabloFans, however, todays may be the exception. During the last conference call, Mike Morhaime said there would be news regarding the beta during this call.
Official Blizzard Quote:
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
First, the actual link to the conference call for those of you who want their info direct from the source. Keep in mind, this is a conference call for investors. This is not a conference call for Blizzard or Diablo. Most of the call is business jargon for investors of Activision and Blizzard. Unless you are into that sort of stuff, you probably should avoid the call itself.
http://investor.acti...m?eventid=96008
The second way to get your information from the call is through the Live DiabloCast. Sixen, Force, and ScyberDragon (myself) will be having a live broadcast of the podcast we normally do. We will be discussing Diablo 3 in general, answering questions from you guys (that you can submit on Force's Facebook page), and announcing any Diablo news given during this call.
http://www.youtube.c...s/0/OzJQX1Pt3ZQ
Finally, for those of you who would just like your news right here on DiabloFans, I will be giving up to the minute updates on any news given during the call right here. The Front Page, and more specifically this post, will be used to relay any news we hear during the conference call. You can also check out our IRC to chat with other DiabloFans about any of the news given.
http://www.diablofans.com
I fully believe there will be external testing starting sometime in July, and that we will, in all probability, see this game around Christmas time.
Don't forget, Blizcon is late this year. That means they could miss their "target" by only a month, have a 6-month beta exactly like Jay guessed, spend a month in absolute final localization/QA/marketing, and be out somewhere in that window.
Let's review:
- it's never a bad idea to wait a few more months to cannibalize WoW
- it's also never a bad idea to polish a little more
- bunching up 3 Bliz releases in 2012 = $$$$$
- no one wants a boring blizcon
And for those thinking that the polishing and beta phases should be shorter, let me remind you:
- this title is the foundation for a remade IP
- no one on that team has any experience doing random dungeons
- this is the first true 3-D AAA ARPG ever
- there are literally millions of skill/rune combinations
- the arena function promises to be the best feature yet has had no real design attention
Official Blizzard Quote:
We are still pushing for a 2011 release
nuff said
Exactly, thank you. This was pretty much deja vu for the Q1 call last year concerning Starcraft 2. He said it was coming at within the next 1-2 months of that call, it did, and about six months later we had Starcraft 2. Now here comes along the EXACT same message, and half of you in here are almost wishing that it gets pushed back to 2012.
The man said "we are still shooting for 2011". Optimism is fun, or so I hear.
I'm going to go with (what seems to be) the majority here and say this is positive news. However, I feel that if they haven't started releasing info on systems/mechanics by the end of this month I will start to get worried. The way I see it these will all have to slot into the game nicely and work quite well for the timeframes to be kept. If 1/some of the systems are found to not work properly or effectively this is what will cause delays.
Of course, the naysayers will keep naysaying and then be all 'like I told you so' if it does get delayed...
Hi! New guy here posting just because I've been lurking at this site for awhile checking up on d3 news BUT down to business
There is some conflicting information. An official post from (I would guess) Bashiok stating that they are aiming for a 2011 release, and this conference call where there are several people who have reported bliz saying "No games expected to be released this year"
Can we get confirmation on that quote? I haven't listened to the call.
Also, while a beta doesn't necessarily have to be 6 months, Q3 could be September, and it's still just a target. So here's what could happen:
Target Q3 met and expectations of blizzard exceeded - July 1 beta, possibly Xmas release.
-HIGHLY Unlikely that blizzard will ever meet our expectations of timetables.
Target Q3 met, typical bliz timeline - August/September beta, Q1 2012 release.
-Most likely scenario if all goes well, in my humble opinion.
Target Q3 not met, uber blizzard timeline - October/November beta, Q2 2012 release.
-Most likely scenario if something goes horribly wrong.
Now, I think (and correct me if I'm wrong) that 2011 target is an older quote, and if they said no games releasing this year in the conference call, that would confirm my suspicions of a 2012 (or, gasp, dare I say it... later) release.
They said in this call that they are still pushing for a 2011 release. The quote about no games in 2011 is also valid because they are not guaranteeing this release date. For a financial call, which this was, they need definite release dates. Therefore, as of right now, there are no games being released in 2011. However, Blizzard is still trying to get the game out by the end of the year.
The good news is that probably means that if the release has to get bumped to 2012, it will be early on in the year.
http://sc.gibybo.com/blizzdates.php
edit: cherubdown you just killed a kitten
Let me say it again. I'd like to point out one more thing. Just for good measure.
No, the demo was nothing compared to what a real beta should be.