During the Activision Blizzard conference call, Mike Morhaime confirmed that Diablo 3 has been delayed until Q2 2012.
"Given the popularity of the action RPG genre, and the keen interest in Diablo III, we expect this launch to be a big opportunity for Blizzard. We can also confirm that we are targeting a Q2 launch for Diablo III," said Morhaime.
Blizzard, which was targeting an "early 2012" release date for the highly anticipated game, had this to say of Diablo 3.
We began beta testing for Diablo III last year. After receiving feedback from the community and our internal teams, we have implemented changes to the game which we believe will greatly improve the game experience, and ensure that the final release will live up to our high expectations. We have also been testing the Auction House functionality. This testing will help ensure a smooth roll-out of this feature with the retail launch, so our players can safely and securely trade items with each other.
Blizzard recently sent out a batch of 100,000 North American beta invites, which they said was "important to achieve the results we need." Blizzard Community Manager Nakatoir, told European forum users Blizzard is still "heavily interested in server performance."
This isn't the first time Diablo 3 has been delayed. Back in September 2011, Blizzard announced the marked "early 2012" release date giving them the extra time needed to "deliver an experience that lives up to our vision for the game and the expectations of our players."
Hopefully this delay will give Blizzard the extra time needed to polish the game. As for the exact release date, right now all we have to go by is Q2 2012, which is April through June. Morhaime said they expect to announced more details about the Diablo 3 release schedule in the "coming weeks".
