RipTen Videogame Blog » Diablo 3

Diablo III Senior Producer Leaves Blizzard for “Bigger and Better Things”

Jacob Saylor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:00:59 +0000

Steve Parker was the Senior Producer on Diablo 3 at Blizzard up until this past Friday when he tweeted:

“Hey Twitter, I’m no longer working at Blizzard or on D3. I’ve had a great 5 years there and those guys are going to kill it with Diablo.”

This leaves the company with a gaping hole in their Irvine offices, but with work mostly complete on Diablo 3, it’s unlikely that his departure will cause any major setbacks on development of the game.

The reasons behind his leaving Blizzard are currently unknown, but we here at RipTen believe that in the next few days more information will become available on the subject. While things look to be fairly mundane on both ends, you never know in this industry. In a response over Twitter to another user, he had this to say:

“Thanks! Looking forward to bigger and better things.”

Here’s to seeing Mr. Parker succeed in his future endeavors, so that he may continue to bring us all awesome games for years to come.

Did You Know Diablo’s Deckard Cain Is A Kid From South Dakota?

Dave Oshry — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:00:05 +0000

Greetings friend. Stay awhile and listen to this tale.

Back in the early 90′s, Blizzard held a very vague contest for an unannounced game. The contest involved sending them a post card with your name on it. One father in South Dakota had a newborn baby with a such a cool name that he decided to put HIS name on the postcard and send it in to Blizzard. That baby’s name? Deckard Cain Elder.

Sixteen years later, young Mr. Elder seems to have discovered Reddit, and decided to share his tale.

According to him:

My first name comes from Harrison Ford’s character in the movie Blade Runner, my middle name is my mother’s maiden name, and my last name is my fathers family name.

I wonder if he’ll hang out with that boy named Dovahkiin when he grows up? Anyway, back to the story.

About six months after entering contest, the Elder family received a box from Blizzard.

Inside the box were several things:

A long yellow envelope, a copy of Diablo, a black hat with Blizzard in blue printed on the front, a very large Diablo T-shirt, and a blue statue of Diablo that stand a little over a foot tall.

rawr.

Also inside the envelope was a letter from Bill Roper, the producer of Diablo.

Said letter explained that young Deckard had won a grand prize. He would soon have his name in Diablo, Blizzard’s upcoming RPG. The rest, as they say, is history.

You know what else is cool about Deckard Cain? He raps:

Stay tuned to RipTen for more interesting stuff you never needed to know.

New Diablo III Trailer Is Epic

Catherine Cai — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:55:26 +0000

Blizzard, newly dubbed VGA Gamer Gods, showed off another Diablo III trailer, making us wonder once again Deckard Cain’s age and how he’s still sprightly enough to constantly dodge fireballs.

Here goes, in all its concept-art-demons glory:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Diablo III – VGA 2011: Exclusive Cinematic Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Five O’Clock Fan Art: Diablo III

Dylan Duarte — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:00:03 +0000

When Diablo III is released, I’m going to stand outside of a major retailer and scream “El Diablo!” in a Spanish accent at anybody who buys the game.

Check out the Diablo III Black Soulstone cinematic.

Check out the Diablo III Collector’s Edition.

Five O’Clock Fan Art is perfect for wrapping up the work day. You don’t want to think anymore, you just want to look at awesome things. And there’s nothing more awesome than a well crafted piece of videogame fan art. If you don’t agree, what the hell are you doing at a gaming blog?

Perhaps kunkka is El Diablo.

Behold The Diablo 3 Collector’s Edition (Details)

Dave Oshry — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:30:44 +0000

The Diablo III Collector’s Edition was finally revealed at Blizzcon 2011.

First off, it contains the full version of Diablo III, a Diablo Skull (sweet) and 4GB USB Soulstone which contains the original Diablo II and Lord of Destruction expansion so that you can retrace the path of the Dark Wanderer once again.

Want.

There’s also a behind the Scenes Blu-Ray/DVD Set which contains over an hour of interviews detailing how the world of Sanctuary was brought to life, The Art of Diablo III which contains art from early concepts to final 3D renderings, the Diablo III Soundtrack and finally, some exclusive in-game content for a number of different blizzard games.

Need.

Diablo Players get Aesthetic Artifacts, World of Warcraft players get an Fetish Shaman Pet and Starcraft 2 players get exclusive in-game Battle.net Portraits.

Sure.

No price or release date have been given yet. It’s done when it’s done.

Also, if you’re thinking about getting the World of Warcraft Annual Pass, you will be getting a copy of Diablo III for free, but you already knew that.

For more on Diablo 3 check out What We Love (and Hate) and Our Full Beta Playthrough!

Behold the Diablo III ‘Black Soulstone’ Cinematic

Dave Oshry — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:24:43 +0000

The Diablo III ‘Black Soulstone’ cinematic has finally been released upon the world. Behold the word of Blizzard:

As Deckard Cain’s niece, Leah, struggles to make sense of her uncle’s mysterious and disturbing notations, she bears witness to a dark vision. Azmodan, Lord of Sin, towers over the fragile young woman, swearing his armies of the burning Hells shall pour forth into Sanctuary, ravishing the world and all hope of resistance.

I don’t know about you, but I know that I can’t wait to kill the armies of the burning hells… and then loot them.

For more on Diablo III check out What we Love (and Hate) So Far About it.

Diablo III Closed Beta Full Video Playthrough With Commentary

Dave Oshry — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 02:00:26 +0000

It’s been nearly one week since Dave and Aaron dove head first into the Diablo III beta. Somehow, they’ve managed to come out somewhat clean on the other side.

Along the way they even managed to hit the ‘record’ buttons on their respective PC’s and are now proud to present to you:

THE ADVENTURES OF TIM LAMBESIS AND TRIPLE H IN THE REALM OF DIABLO III

In this first video Dave and Aaron take on some early quests and stomp on some mobs with newfound abilities after they have already saved the legendary Deckard Cain from a deep and dark fate:

After grinding about, the boys head off in search of the crown of the Skeleton King and answers to the mysteries surround the eternally doomed town of Tristram:

Now, after a short break, our heroes have gained some new abilities and gear and are finally ready for the final challenge of the Diablo III beta:

So, there you have it. Despite their personal of professional shortcomings, Dave and Aaron managed to make it through the Beta with hardly a scratch.

Could they ever have been anything but heroes? Of course not… they were born this way.

Stay tuned for the final bit of our hands on coverage of the Diablo III beta as the guys max out every class in the game and give you a rundown of how each one works and plays.

Blizzard Delays Diablo III Until 2012 – Extends Beta Testing

Chris Carlson — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:00:01 +0000

Blizzard initially had Diablo 3 set to release this year, unfortunately that is no longer the case. The company announced today that the game would be pushed back until early 2012.

CEO and Co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime made the announcement today:

“With every game we make, the temptation is always very strong to launch as soon as possible. However, we didn’t put so many years of work into Diablo III to release a game that was almost ready. The beta test is going very well, and we look forward to making the most of the extra time we’re taking to deliver an experience that lives up to our vision for the game and the expectations of our players. Next year is going to be an incredibly busy one for Blizzard, and we hope an incredibly fun one for Blizzard gamers.”

Of course, you know Blizzard, they’re cool guys and won’t push you under the bus. So due to the delay, Blizzard plans on using that time to extend the closed beta test.

We’ve been playing the beta all week and already have some videos and impressions for you to check out. Stay tuned for plenty more!

Blizzard didn’t announce how much of an extension, but rest assured, they will make sure you’re not entirely pissed off.

What We Love (And Hate) So Far About Diablo III

Aaron Alexander — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:00:44 +0000

After spending close to a full day with the Diablo III beta, both Dave and I came away feeling impressed and excited for the full release of Blizzard’s hotly anticipated action/RPG. While the gameplay largely remains the tried and true “click on dudes to destroy them”, there’s a few key changes to the Diablo formula that may sway your opinion depending on your stance. Check out our opinions below;

What we Love:

Social Interactivity

The friends functionality in Diablo 3 is easy and intuitive.

At anytime in Diablo 3, you can tap the “O” key to bring up a full featured list of your currently online friends. It’s similar to the friends menu presented in Starcraft 2 and at a glance you automatically know what your friends are doing in the demon infested world. Not only can you see a visual representation of your friends characters, but you can see their progression in the world, and though it’s not presented in the beta, undoubtedly you’ll be able to compare achievements and other various records. You can even see their time played… in real time.

Yet, it’s not only a comparison tool. At any time you can ask to join your friends crusades, or invite them to yours. It works flawlessly, even being in beta state and we’ve had no issues at all with the current system. Gone are the days of creating a lobby with a lame password such as “undertaker69goldberg”, it’s now easier than ever to enjoy your friends company.

That brings us to our next love:

Matchmaking

Matchmaking is quick and effective

If you don’t have friends to play with (I’m not judging), matchmaking is more than a viable option. As a matter of fact, matchmaking is fucking perfect. Not only can you cater the search to a specific chapter in the story, but the level of difficulty is also presented (only normal is available in the beta). To stop the guesswork, the matchmaking service also presents you with how many people are playing your currently selected options. Once you’ve selected your mode of play, the matchmaking service takes a few seconds at best to pair you with other players, and don’t worry about the latency, even playing halfway around the globe it runs silky smooth. Props once more, Blizzard!

Both the matchmaking and social interactivity make Diablo III the most addictive and easy to use multiplayer experience to come along in years.

What We (or just Dave) Hate:

The Streamlining (dumbing down) of Skills and Gameplay

Yes, they've dumbed down Diablo 3. Begin Lynchmobs

This one is purely subjective to your tastes. If you’re a pansy like me, you won’t mind the fact that you don’t have to dump a certain amount of points into strength or agility, therefore saving you from sitting up all night worrying if you’ve gimped your character.

If you’re a nerd like Dave, you’ll probably turn red at this change, and throw your D20′s square in the forehead of the person closest to you. Yes that’s right, stat points are no longer governed by you, the in game logic takes care of that every time you level up. It’s not only stat points that have been streamlined, but your abilities as well. You’ll only be able to select 2 usable abilities until level 6, then only 3 until level 12 and so forth. You’ll unlock a new ability every level early on, it just becomes a game of mix and match, catering your abilities to work well with your partners. It’s also worth noting that a number of each classes abilities are simply awesome and fun as hell to use.

Though this can leave the early game feeling quite tedious and repetitive, soon enough you’ll be tossing RPG lingo at your friend, coming up with exciting new strategies. Taking a cue from Torchlight, you’ll also have access to a Cauldron and Nephilim cube, which allows you to sell or breakdown items into crafting materials anywhere, at anytime. You will never have to walk back to town to sell anything… ever. Dave maintains that Torchlight’s pet system handled this much better and bitches at me every time we play that they’ve streamlined the looting far too much and that Diablo 1 was addictive because of blah blah blah, that’s usually where I stop listening.

Once again, this will either make you happy or furious depending on your tastes. Oh, and there’s a WoW style hearthstone as well. Fuck walking anywhere.

The Visuals Are Underwhelming

Diablo, Y U so bland

Perhaps it’s the lack of anti-aliasing (Beta!), or perhaps the wait has done no favors toward Diablo’s expectation levels, but Diablo 3 visually is truly underwhelming. Even with all the options cranked to the max, nothing pops out or helps you feel a sense of true immersion towards the game. Character models are quite bland, weapon particle effects look less interesting than that of Team Fortress 2, and the world looks like a watercolor painting – take that as you will. Despite it’s shortcomings at first glance, once you get in the heat of combat, the dismembered bodies of your enemies and constant gushes of blood look good enough to satisfy. Blizzard are known to create a distinct art style that doesn’t require high end PC’s to run at maximum and for the most part they succeed. However with Diablo 3, it feels really uninspired and bland – I hate to say it, but even Torchlight has more character in this department. This is usually when Dave will start chewing my ear off about how Diablo III doesn’t have shit on Dungeon Siege III visually and that Obsidian is the best PC RPG developer around and blah blah blah, then I mention Alpha Protocol and he gets mad and we don’t talk for two days… but I digress…

Guess what? It’s still the sequel we’ve wanted and the one you’ve been waiting for

Despite it's shortcomings, we can't stay away from Diablo III

Despite it’s obvious simplification and shortcomings visually, we’ve played this beta for damn near two days straight now. It’s still Diablo. It’s still click on shit and watch it explode into pink mist. It’s still yelling frantically at your friends when a giant boss named “Magglemaw” is chasing you erratically around the room. There’s a few subtle additions such as a new physics engine, which makes being a war-stomping barbarian even more fun – If I jump into battle, you’re flying straight into God’s domain you evil little bastard. Half the fun for Dave, was running around throwing Kunai at the various furniture we’d come across just to watch them fall into a pile of rubble, he’s literal home-wrecker. Enemies will drop health globes to keep combat going, and if you do fall in battle, a partner can run up and resurrect you on the spot. Better yet, gear that drops for one player, won’t appear on the others screen – he’ll get an entirely different drop, there is none of the loot stealing that plagued past games.

The changes Blizzard have implemented might worry some fans, but if you’re willing to let the past go, Diablo 3 is still an amazingly well crafted hack and slash. The wait has been definitely worth it and we’re already uber excited for the full retail release. Now if you’ll excuse me, the beta is calling…

This is How the Auction House and Banner Creation Work in Diablo III (Beta Gameplay)

Ripten Staff — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:00:38 +0000

The Diablo 3 beta is finally upon us. Unfortunately, it may not yet be upon you. Luckily, Dave and Aaron have been kind enough to play the beta for you, and they’re gonna tell you all about it!

One of the most discussed topics in regards to D3 has been the inclusion of an in-game auction house.

The auction house is available in a limited capacity in the beta, but it’s definitely a welcome addition thus far that makes the the game even more addictive.

Watch as Aaron walks you through it’s features:

Next up is the banner creation. Each player can create a banner for each of their characters that will be shown both at the loading screen and in-game.

There are a litany of options and if you’re familiar with guild tabard creation in World of Warcraft, you’ll feel right at home here.

Watch as Dave walks you through it:

So there you have it. If you thought Diablo 2 was addictive, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Stay tuned for our continued coverage of the Diablo 3 beta, including plenty of HD gameplay!

Dungeon Siege III DLC Will Add Hours of Gameplay and Raise Level Cap

Dave Oshry — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:01:03 +0000

Guess what? Diablo 3 still isn’t out yet and you need more things to hack and slash. Well, good news everyone – Obisidan’s latest RPG is getting some DLC and it’s only a month away.

Today, Square Enix has announced Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun. It will be released in October across all platforms for $9.99 and will feature:

Travels beyond the borders of Ehb to an all-new environment: the Aranoi Desert. On their search for a lost Legion hero, players will fight through hordes of new villains only to find a forgotten abbey hiding a long-lost secret: the greatest treasure of the Azunite faith.

Further supporting the hours of new content in the expansion, developer Obsidian Entertainment has introduced several refinements to the systems and mechanics of DUNGEON SIEGE III:

New abilities: Players will be able to attain mastery of the arcane through powerful new attack, defense and healing abilities.

Level up to 35: DUNGEON SIEGE III: TREASURES OF THE SUN will further power up players by raising DUNGEON SIEGE III‘s existing level cap from 30 to 35.

More monsters and items: Players will encounter new monsters in the Aranoi Desert—including mummies and giant skeletons—and will find more powerful items, adding to the thousands already available in DUNGEON SIEGE III.

Reallocate Talent & Proficiency Points: Players can reallocate points spent in Proficiencies and Talents, enabling changes to character customization throughout the campaign.

New Enchanting System: Transmuting items now gives players chances at gaining powerful new Vials that allow them to enhance their weapons and armor through the DLC’s new enchanting system.

Dungeon Siege III may not have been a genre re-defining masterpiece, but it was a solid hack n slash RPG across all platforms. Want to know more? Be sure to check out the RipTen Review and stay tuned for continued coverage of Dungeon Siege III and all things Obsidian and Square Enix.

Why Diablo 3 on Consoles Wouldn’t Be Terrible

Jeff Heilig — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:12:48 +0000

We all know PC gamers are charismatically defensive of their platform. Yet the reluctance of allowing developers loyal to the PC onto other platforms is only holding back the industry. Now Blizzard is seeking to defy its persistently loyal audience by “seriously considering” bringing Diablo 3 to the consoles.

Alongside the announcement of the ultra-difficult “Inferno” mode, and without saying word of a release date, lead designer Josh Mosquiera at said at Gamescom that:

“We’re trying to build the best console team at Blizzard. We’re looking for programmers, designers, artists who think their dream job would be to bring Diablo to the console.”

So, apparently, it’s been confirmed.

But the question remains: would the port be successful? None of Blizzard’s modern day iterations of their key franchises (Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo) have made their way to the consoles properly before, so the experiment would be a huge gamble. Only going on brand recognition alone, Blizzard has consistently high sales because consumers expect quality. Moreover, the implementation of Battle.net (Blizzard’s online profile service) has prolonged the shelf life of any iterations from the three famous franchises. Could Blizzard garner the same type of community on consoles matching what exists on PC? It’s hard to tell.

Typically, both mediums are considered separate. But PC-exclusive companies are realizing an audience exists within the console community that doesn’t slave themselves over a Call of Duty game. Valve and Crytek, both previously PC exclusive, brought their star franchises to the console with favourable results. Many even said Crysis 2 is the best-looking console game to date. Valve even made it possible for PS3 and PC players to play co-op on Portal 2. A precedent does exist, and if Blizzard could establish Battle.net without any hiccups or issues with the console makers, they could amass sufficient if not insane sales.

It’s possible! I’d love to see the console audience embrace Blizzard’s franchises with open arms. Perhaps this could further enclose the relationship between the PC and console fan base. Though, to ensure success, Blizzard should allow interconnectivity through the two platforms.

One thing is sure, next year should be fun.

This Fat Dude Is Pretty Pissed At Blizzard…

Dave Oshry — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:30:23 +0000

As you may have heard, Diablo III is going to see some interesting changes to the franchise that include things like always on DRM.

Well, that doesn’t seem to be sitting to well with some “former” Blizzard fans like Francis here. Francis is pissed. Francis is seriously pissed off… you guys:

If you want his real opinion, check this out, although it’s far less entertaining.

Stay tuned to RipTen for continued coverage of fat angry nerds.

Diablo III Cannot Be Played Offline

Catherine Cai — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:50:10 +0000

As an avid PC gamer, nothing makes my brows drop into the snarl of a rage face like ridiculous digital rights management on games. Take Ubisoft’s always-online DRM, for instance. Perhaps I’m on a plane somewhere and I don’t quite feel like watching the B movies or listening to the pre-recorded “radio stations” that cheap planes come equipped with. I decide to whip out my laptop so I can play some Assassin’s Creed 2… oh wait, no I can’t. Nothing makes me want to pirate more than the fact that I can’t play the games I want without internet access. Ubisoft, despite dropping the always-online DRM due to complaints, recently decided to bring it back for Driver and claimed that it did deter piracy. I don’t see how this is the case, particularly because various warez groups have figured out how to bypass the always-online DRM.

Maybe Ubisoft’s high claims have reached Activision-Blizzard’s ears, because something possessed Blizzard to make Diablo III online only. However, Blizzard claims that the online-only play isn’t just for DRM but to protect players from cheating, as Diablo III will feature an auction house where items can be paid for with real money.

Anybody else see a flaw in that logic? Why not just follow the same format that Diablo II did and separate single player from multiplayer to deter cheating? Blizzard’s response?

“We thought about this quite a bit. One of the things that we felt was really import was that if you did play offline, if we allowed for that experience, you’d start a character, you’d get him all the way to level 20 or level 30 or level 40 or what have you, and then at that point you might decide to want to venture onto Battle.net. But you’d have to start a character from scratch, because there’d be no way for us to guarantee no cheats were involved, if we let you play on the client and then take that character online.” -Rob Pardo, Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard

So essentially, Blizzard feels that players are too lazy to create a second account for multiplayer. Lies and slander, Blizzard, I know that the real reason is to prevent piracy. Learn from Ubisoft’s example… always-online DRM has already been cracked by pirates. You’re not deterring anybody from pirating the game, but you certainly are deterring your fans from wanting to play. I’m one of them.

New Diablo III Details – ‘Nuff Said

Dave Oshry — Fri, 13 May 2011 08:15:00 +0000

Diablo III still isn’t out? Oh well, it will be eventually. In the mean time, come with us as we learn a bit more about the next installment of Blizzard’s beloved franchise.

If you’ve played Diablo II, you likely had a mercenary or two follow you around. They were a great help and they did a great job of soaking up damage for you even if they were a bit devoid of any personality.

This time around your followers are customizable and have backstory.

There are three types of followers: The Templar tanks, the Scoundrel misdirects and the Enchantress uses Jedi mind tricks to confuse your enemies.

You can only have one follower active at a time, although you can swap them out at any save point. Strategery abounds in Diablo 3 as you’ll certainly find certain followers are better at helping you with certain parts of your adventure.

They can also be respec’d at any time, for a price. Lord knows Blizzard loves charging us for respecs!!

Your followers will have their own talent trees and you will also be able to equip their weapons, jewelery and class specific items for teh buffening.

However, as in Diablo II, they cannot be controlled, sorry. However, Blizzard promises their AI is first rate, and I’m hard pressed not to believe them.

Check out the followers in action below:

Stay tuned to RipTen for more on Diablo III and all things Blizzard.

Diablo 3 Beta Coming This Summer

Dave Oshry — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:20:28 +0000

Today, during an Activision-Blizzard investor call, Blizzard founder and CEO Mike Morhaime told the world when we can expect a Diablo 3 beta.

He said the beta can be expected during Q3 2011 (Summatime!) More details about a release date will likely come during Blizzcon 2011 in October.

There’s still no word on a console version.

I think I speak for everyone when I say, it’s about damn time!

Blizzard Hiring for “Console Diablo III”

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:07:32 +0000

Last week we reported Blizzard was investigating a console version of Diablo III, now it looks as though they are hiring.

Through a recent job listing seen on Gamasutra, Blizzard has basically confirmed that it is working on a console port of Diablo III. The Job listing is seeking is for a “Senior Producer, Console Diablo III” and the description includes:

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a highly organized individual with outstanding communications and project management skills for the Diablo team. The ideal candidate has prior experience in console game development and has a keen knowledge of how each discipline operates and interacts. Self-direction and follow-up skills are a must, as well as the ability to anticipate production issues and find effective solutions. The candidate must be fully committed to seeing projects through from inception to completion, and delivering games on time with the highest quality.

Essentially, console owners who have looked forward to playing Diable 3 have something big to look foward to. Don’t get too excited though. At Activision’s most recent conference, it was announced as unlikely Blizzard would release a game in 2011. Most likely it could see a 2012 release.

Diablo “Investigated” for a Console Port

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:42:38 +0000

Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime brought up the possibilty of a console version of Diablo at DICE late yesterday. While noting Blizzard’s preference for the PC’s flexibilty he stated,

“I think you could make an argument that a game like Diablo might play very well on a console. It’s something that we’re actually doing an investigation into to see if that could make sense.”

Morhaime also discussed a “number of issues” that Blizzard would have to solve before bringing Diablo to consoles. Among his major concerns include the ability to patch effectively and add expansions.

When asked if he felt Diablo could be ported to consoles, he nodded “yes”!

Source: Joystiq

Blizzard Timetable Supposedly Leaked, Next-Gen MMO “Titan” Coming in 2013?

Dave Oshry — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:03:01 +0000

If the Chinese are to be believed, and we’d be foolish to simply write them off, it seems as if World of Warcraft is set for two more expansions, and that a mysterious project Titan is set for release in 2013.

As you can see below, this timetable that was posted on Chinese WoW forum NGA details Blizzard’s key product launches all the way through 2014. The dates are correct in regards to products which have already been launched such as Starcraft II and the WoW Mobile Auction House. It’s also correct as to the launch of Cataclysm (Q4 2010)

However, if you look closely you will see that Blizzard also seems to be planning a 4th and 5th expansion for World of Warcraft as well as the WoW Movie in Q4 of 2012. What’s also interesting is the release date for Diablo 3 (Q4 2011) as well as two planned expansions for both Starcraft and Diablo respectively.

So is this timetable feasbale? Absolutely. However, it is legitimate? That remains to be seen. We can only hope so.

Check out the entire table and full list of supposed releases below:

Battle Net 2 – 2010.Q3

Battle Net 2 Map Market – 2011.Q2

Battle Net 2 3rd Parties – 2012.Q1

StarCraft 2 – 2010.Q3

StarCraft 2 X1 (Heart of the Swarm?) – 2011.Q4

SC2: Phoenix – 2011.Q4

SC2 X2 (Legacy of the Void?) – 2013.Q1

Diablo 3 – 2011.Q4

Diablo 3 X1 – 2013.Q2

Diablo 3 X2 – 2014.Q4

WOW Mobile – 2010.Q2

WOW X3 CATACLYSM – 2010.Q4

WOW Brazil – 2011.Q3

WOW X4 – 2012.Q2

WOW TCG – 2012.Q3

WOW Movie – 2012.Q4

WOW X5 – 2013.Q4

Titan – 2013.Q4

As you can see, some of the products above have been confirmed by Blizzard (like SC2′s expansion and the 4th WoW expansion) while others have yet been unconfirmed (such as the Diablo 3 expansions).

But what the hell is Titan!?

One can only assume it’s the codename for Blizzard’s long awaited Next-Gen MMO they’ve been working on. If it was to release in 2013 – it would be a Titan indeed.

Original Source (Mandarin) / Translated Source (Engrish)

Diablo 3 Likely Coming To Consoles

Garrett Hartman — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:25:41 +0000

The possibility of the Diablo series making a console return has just become more possible. Thanks to a couple of job listings discovered by Gamasutra we now know Blizzard is looking for a Senior Producer, Lead Designer and Lead Programmer to create a console version of it’s popular RPG series.

“Blizzard Entertainment is seeking an experienced engineer to lead console development on the Diablo team,” reads one listing. “The ideal candidate has both strong leadership skills and an impressive technical console background.”

In response to initial reports of the job listings Blizzard posted this on the official Diablo community site:

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. As we’ve said in the past, with proper care the gameplay could suit the console platform, and we’re interested in seeing what talent out there might be interested in such a project. If you’re passionate about all things Diablo and have the requisite skill and experience, then head over to our jobs site to check out the positions and apply.

Please note that this is not an announcement of a console title. We are first and foremost developing Diablo III for Windows and Mac and don’t intend to allow any possibility of a console interpretation to delay or affect the release of the game.

In other words, Blizzard realizes there’s much money to be made with a console version.

We’ll keep you updated as this story unfolds.