Blizzard executive suggests a lengthy wait for Diablo III and Starcraft II expansions
Gamers hoping to get their hands on a copy of Diablo III in 2010 may well be disappointed, that is if Activision Blizzard Chief Financial Officer Thomas Tippl is to be believed.
During a presentation at a New York conference last week Tippl outlines the publishers release schedule for 2010 and ‘the next few years’ on a slide for attendees.
As part of Blizzard Activision’s 2010 schedule Tippl listed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Starcraft II and ‘upgraded Battle.Net’ as solid release objectives. Diablo III however, in conjunction with Starcraft expansion packs and an unannounced MMO was listed as ready for release in “the next few years”.
The fact that Diablo III will not be released in 2010 will not come as a surprise to most.
Earlier this year Blizzard confirmed that Starcraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm are pinned to be the developer’s primary releases for the year.
This does however cast a shadow of doubt that the sequel to the action RPG classic Diablo II will be released in 2011, as the gaming community has come to expect.
Blizzard is famously known for its refusal to commit to release dates and its lengthy development process, this could mean that both Diablo III and the Starcraft II expansions (Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void) may only hit shelves as late as 2012.
Tippl could not confirm this adding only that “Diablo III is coming along well. Blizzard has expansion packs for Starcraft II in development; they have a continuous innovation plan for the Battle.Net platform, as well as an unannounced MMO to come sometime down the road.”
Despite the constant delays local retailers such as BT Games are already taking pre orders for both Starcraft II and Diablo III, leading less informed gamers to believe that these titles will be released shortly.
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