While some may be open to the idea of turning Diablo 3's PvP system into a competitive eSport, Blizzard is avoiding that approach in their design.
Responding to fans, Blizzard community manager Zarhym echoed previous statements that Diablo 3's PvP will not be created with competitive leagues/ladders in mind.
"We want PvP to be incredibly challenging and fun, but we want to avoid turning it into a truly competitive leagues/ladders eSport," Zarhym said. "We just don't think Diablo gameplay is very conducive for that type of controlled environment where balance is paramount."
"That said, we want to develop PvP as an engaging and rewarding system. What we don't want to do is take a traditional eSports approach to PvP, where balance will become so important to a competitive ranking system that solo and cooperative gameplay feel a bit neutered as a result," Zarhym concluded.
To be honest, aside from StarCraft, no other Blizzard games have really made an impact on the eSports scene so this really shouldn't come as a surprise.. Popular MMORPG World of Warcraft had a short run as a eSport with the Arena PvP, but MLG chose to drop it for 2011.
Diablo 3 is set to release May 15th, but without PvP Arenas. Blizzard said back in March they'd prefer to hold the PvP component itself back for further fine-tuning rather than delay the entire game's launch. According to Blizzard, it wasn't "meeting the company's expectations."
