Like many gamers, I’ve long been a fan of Blizzard’s Diablo series ever since the original first hit the shelves all those years ago. In fact I can remember buying the first game in the now defunct Byte Superstore at what is now Hermiston Gait in Edinburgh and spent many happy hours battling my way through the catacombs of Tristram’s cathedral to reach a showdown with the demon lord.
So it is with baited breath that I await the release of Diablo III but I’m sad to learn that the likely release date will be ’sometime in 2011′ at the earliest if an article by ComputerAndVideoGames.com is correct. Their article claims that a slide from a Blizzard presentation shown in New York for Starcraft II expansions suggests the third instalment of Diablo III is still some years away.
Indeed, the slide, which is featured on Kotaku clearly shows that Diablo III is unlikely to reach shop shelves before 2011 and could take even longer. Given that Diablo II was released in 2000, is an 11-year wait for a second sequel normal? Even though the initial announcement about Diablo III was made around eighteen months ago, in Blizzard’s case it seems to be the norm – some 10 years have passed between Starcraft and Starcraft II.
Personally, I’d have preferred it if Blizzard had remained silent on the whole Diablo III release until it was much further down the path to completion… or maybe we’ll end up with another Duke Nukem Forever scenario? I hope not… or can you say vapourware?
