Diablo 3 release date pushed back to 2012, Beta extended

The greatest game of all time, ever, Diablo 3 (or III, if you prefer), is being pushed back to the start of 2012, that is if you trust the list we got to peek at all the way back in December of 2010. On the other hand, it could all be according to plan, that list being smacked in the face after it was leaked and those responsible sacked. All we need to know is that Diablo 3 is only months away, and that yours truly is going to have to try his hardest not to completely dismiss the outside world and live in a cave with internet connection for the next few years playing.

Blizzard Entertainment isn't known for their quick game turnarounds, but they certainly ARE known for turning out hits. The Diablo franchise is over a decade old and has essentially had people playing online via Blizzard.net non-stop since the late 1990s. The new information we've got today comes from Mike Morhaime, chief executive at Blizzard Entertainment, who has some slightly discouraging news if you were hoping the Beta would turn into a Release before the end of 2011 – the humanity of it all!

"We commonly use the term "soon" when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we're working to reach a target, we're not going to compromise and launch a game before it's ready. While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful that Diablo III would ship this year. We were too." – Morhaime

This puts the other gigantic MMORPG game coming out soon, Star Wars: The Old Republic, from Electronic Arts, in a fantastic position for a monstrous release. SW:TOR has already broken EA's record for highest number of pre-orders in their history, they say, back in July noting that over 200,000 reservations had been placed in just 6 days.

But here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen. We want to play. Beta is out there, we're all looking for keys, and it's just as much a quest to get early entry into Diablo III as it is to actually play the game. Can't wait!