Blizzard has already finalized the box art for Diablo 3 beta, so that you can select it in your Battle.net account as part of the beta selection process.
Btw, if you still haven’t signed up for the beta, go to your Battle.net account now.
In addition to the Diablo 3 box art, Blizzard’s PR machine has roared to life, announcing a press tour starting August 1.
According to MMO Champion, it’s the same pattern as with Cataclysm – the beta release date is probably 2 weeks away.
Two conclusions based on this little piece of news. First, all German gamers and especially ones living in Cologne are lucky bastards as they will get a chance to play Diablo 3 early.
Second, it signals that Diablo 3 beta is ready in terms of the single player and Blizzard are probably just tweaking with the network code. Battle.net 2.0 is one of the best multiplayer platforms and offers amazing features, so I bet Blizzard would like to integrate them with Diablo 3. Things like chat, invites, etc.
So why we are waiting for the Diablo 3 release, I leave you with this fun video about Diablo 3′s Purgatory.
Now, we speculated that Diablo 3 is perfect for consoles and especially the Playstation 3 back in 2006. It’s only 5 years later that we can report with some certitude that indeed there are plans for a console version.
First piece of evidence is pretty obvious: Blizzard is advertising aggressively a few job opening for a Playstation 3 specialist.
Second piece is the reassuring statement from Blizzard that any console version of Diablo 3 will NOT delay the PC/Mac version.
“We’re exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles and are currently looking to fill a few senior console-related positions on the Diablo III team,” said Blizzard’s spokesperson.
“Please note that this is not an announcement of a console title. We are first and foremost developing Diablo III for Windows and Mac PCs and don’t intend to allow any possibility of a console interpretation to delay or affect the release of the game.”
Last week everyone was anxious to hear what Mike Morhaime had to say about the Diablo 3 beta. As you remember, he has to keep investors in Blizzard happy about upcoming releases.
So in his May 9th conference call with investors, he assured them that Diablo 3 will start beta testing in Q3, that means sometime between July 1st and September 30th. My guess is that it will be closer to September but I’m a natural skeptic after 6 years of waiting for Diablo 3.
Talking about the REAL game, Mike Morhaime also promised investors that Blizzard is doing everything possible to release Diablo by the end of the year. Which goes to prove my point about Blizzard still aiming for 2011 release.
Blizzcon 2011 tickets will be on sale starting May 21! The price has been steadily rising and this year’s Blizzcon is $175 for the regular pass and $500 for the benefit dinner tickets.
The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on October 21 and 22. It is not clear what the tickets will include. Last year’s tickets supposedly include beta keys that will give access to the upcoming Diablo 3 beta. Maybe they will feature the now standard WoW pet.
Now, if you’ve been reading blogs in the last couple of days, you might have gone desperate. It started from those buttheads at Joystiq and then spread out.
So during a conference with investors “Activision COO Thomas Tippl said that if we don’t see any games from Blizzard this year, the publisher expects to see them next year”. Activision is desperate to cut costs. It just slashed Guitar Hero and basically are left only with Call of Duty. Blizzard is the only money maker in this family. So why is Thomas talking big IFs to investors? Because that’s his job.
Our job is to track the people who really matter, like Rob Pardo. When asked whether we’ll see Diablo 3 released in 2011, he said yesterday:
“We really, really hope so. That’s our goal,” Pardo said. “Our goal is to get there. But you know, at the end of the day, we are going to get it right. That’s more important. We’re going to promise, we’re going to get it out there when it’s awesome. And, we’re crossing our fingers, maybe it will be this year.”
Of course, Blizzard never make promises but you can decide WHO you’re going to believe: Activision’s COO talking to investors, or Rob Pardo talking to Kotaku. I go with Rob on this one.
Diablo 3 beta is probably just a few weeks away. 
