Blizzard introduces Diablo 3

by Elizabeth Harper { Jun 28th 2008 at 6:30AM }

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Joystiq will make any sacrifice to bring you the latest news -- even if it means flying to Paris, France in order to attend Blizzard Entertainment's Worldwide Invitational. Only seconds ago we were shown a cinematic from Blizzard's newest game: Diablo 3. We're currently being shown a live demo of the game (which we're reminded is a work in progress) by lead designer Jay Wilson. The look and feel of the game -- though graphically updated from its aging sibling -- looks a lot like the dungeon crawls we all know and love from the original series. We're promised more loot, more quests (and some old friends like Deckard Cain), and new environments. Classes demo'd include the familiar Barbarian and the brand new Witch Doctor (a master of disease and fire who will control pets). Says Wilson, the game is "primarily cooperative" and it will be quick and easy to form groups over Battle.net. Sorry, folks who were expecting an MMO, but it sounds like Diablo 3 will continue in the tried-and-true Diablo format.

Update: Blizzard's European site is now live with the cinematic teaser and gameplay footage for your perusal!

Gallery: Worldwide Invitational 2008: Diablo 3

Tags: battle.net, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, blizzard-paris-invitational, BreakingNews, d3, diablo, diablo-3, paris, worldwide-invitational, wwi08

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

KC @ Jun 28th 2008 6:33AM

and i was hoping for lost vikings......

greatslack @ Jun 28th 2008 3:16PM

Me too, brother.

Foetoid @ Jun 28th 2008 6:34AM

Then the lord said "LET THERE BE DIABLO 3", and all gamers wishes came true. Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 both in development? I just soiled myself.

Jakka @ Jun 28th 2008 6:50AM

...and for a short time, it all stopped.All fanboys-alike gave up on flame wars and hugged each other.They all watched as Blizzard announced Diablo 3 and tried to make the best out of their one-day-truce.

They gave each other gifts and presents and played their favourite games together.Even Tmacairjordan was seen playing SSBB, as Fernando tried to knock out enemies on MGS4 by jumping on their heads.

And they all took out their Guitars and copies of GH3 and played MJOLNIR MIX - The Anthem of Gaming.

Foetoid @ Jun 28th 2008 6:58AM

+1 to Jakka. Everyone should immediatly go to the blizzard site and check out the excellent splash screen now up!

Jakka @ Jun 28th 2008 7:05AM

http://eu.blizzard.com/en/splash.htm

Yep, it is beautiful.

Jakka @ Jun 28th 2008 7:08AM

Still, what happened to all the ice? The last time I checked it was barely melting and I reckon Blizzard should've made a much smoother transition between yesterday's and current screen.

I dunno, maybe an animation of the ice melting away really quickly?

Foetoid @ Jun 28th 2008 7:12AM

VIDEOS ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE. +1 TO BLIZZARD!

http://eu.blizzard.com/diablo3/

Mr.ESC @ Jun 28th 2008 1:48PM

Can it be hugz tiem nao?

Victor @ Jun 28th 2008 6:37AM

*orgasms*

Anti-Blizzard @ Jun 28th 2008 8:16AM

If by "Optimized" you mean incredibly poor lookin'!

Seriously.. maybe they'll approach 2001 graphical power levels this time!

Probably not.
Would be nice if they could make it to 2004 levels, but that's WAY too much to hope for.

joowan @ Jun 28th 2008 6:37AM

Oh man its finally the time to upgrade my GeForce FX 5200 running machine

Foetoid @ Jun 28th 2008 6:43AM

That terrible. Computers these days are so cheap its not funny. Here in Australia, i can build a full AMD dual-core system with 4gb ram, 500gb hdd, and 9600gt OC graphics card for less than AU$600 which is really quite cheap in our dollars.

Ghen @ Jun 28th 2008 6:48AM

I remember playing diablo 2 on a 333 Celeron it ran kinda chuggy. Then I upgraded to a PII 500Mhz and all was right with the world.

Jakka @ Jun 28th 2008 6:57AM

It's a Blizzard Game. Name me one of their titles that wasn't optimized well enough to run even on cards like Geforce 2.

GenBanks @ Jun 28th 2008 8:17AM

Why would you want a 9600gt, the radeon 4850 just came out and it's almost as fast as a 9800gtx for less than $200 ;)

Jakka @ Jun 28th 2008 8:34AM

@ GenBanks

I think he was talking about GF9600

Personally I'm using Radeon HD 2600XT because I was unlucky enough to get a modern PC with an AGP slot.And out of the best AGP cards, Radeon 1950 requires it's own power plant in order to run so I decided to go for my second best choice.

flameofdoom666 @ Jun 28th 2008 6:42AM

YES!!!!

Maverick Saturn @ Jun 28th 2008 6:43AM

Well colour me completly suprised :O

But at the same time, this has made my day ^^

Wooot!

Xoviet chiK @ Jun 28th 2008 6:45AM

Two years of Diablo sobriety for what?

Time to install it again, gotta warm up for the next 8 years of my *no longer able to be called a* life.

Awesome! (Glad it isn't an MMO too!)

Foetoid @ Jun 28th 2008 6:49AM

I will sit on the fence for the MMO argument. Personally i think it would have worked excellently having it like WOW or Age of Conan. At the same time i LOVE Diablo 2 and more recently, am obsessed with Titan Quest and just finished the expansion on legendary difficulty. Diablo 3 would have worked wonders as an MMO, but Blizzard want nothing, not even Diablo, to take away the WOW thunder.

Omega2k3 @ Jun 28th 2008 8:18AM

Except that they announced the creation of a new MMO that wasn't WoW...

Ghen @ Jun 28th 2008 6:45AM

YES! D3 WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Chase @ Jun 28th 2008 6:46AM

Where the heck is my Blackthorne MMORPG?!

Psaakyrn @ Jun 28th 2008 6:54AM

There's only one thing I want to know: What is the online multiplayer setup like? Meaning, more towards MMO, partial MMO (E.g. Hellgate London), or Diablo 2 style?

Psaakyrn @ Jun 28th 2008 6:55AM

There's only one thing I want to know: What is the online multiplayer setup like? Meaning, more towards MMO, partial MMO (E.g. Hellgate London), or Diablo 2 style?

Lord Bowser @ Jun 28th 2008 7:01AM

This isn't Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Foetoid @ Jun 28th 2008 7:09AM

Very perceptive of you! I'm so glad you straightened that out for us all. +1!!!

Feras @ Jun 28th 2008 11:54AM

Diablo 3!!!! Even though you knew it was going to happen, it still makes me soil myself. Especially knowing that it's in development side by side with WoWLK and SCII, amazing. I definitely have to go to Blizzcon this year for sure!

Parsnipzilla @ Jun 28th 2008 7:06AM

/sarcasm "Noone saw this coming"
/joy "time to upgrade!!"

Jakka @ Jun 28th 2008 7:14AM

To be honest, nobody did.

Blizzard is known for releasing one game at a time, without mentioning ANYTHING about their future projects let alone showing gameplay demos.

And now they have working versions of S2,D3 and new WoW all in one year.Gee, isn't that impressing?