Blizzard: Diablo 3 "On The Home Stretch"

Sounds like Diablo 3 could possibly hit store shelves this holiday season.

Diablo 3 fans eager to find out when the game will finally hit store shelves won't discover the answer here. Still, there's a small glimmer of hope that the game could make it into our hands by the end of the year, as Diablo 3 game director Jay Wilson recently stated that the team is "in the home stretch."

"We’re crunching," he told the New York Times. "This is when the magic happens."

Activision Blizzard has already stated that, for now, it doesn't plan to reveal a release date for the highly-anticipated action-RPG in fear of a possible delay that might disappoint eager fans. The company also has no intentions in setting a date and then rushing the game out the door to meet its obligation, sacrificing its overall quality.

In a recent hands-on preview, the New York Times stated that a new trading system was one of the reasons why it has taken so long to develop Diablo 3. Rather than forcing players to advertise items via chat channels, or alt+tab out of the game and sell items to external auction sites, there's indication that Blizzard may incorporate an in-game auction house and trading tools for players to use.

"We’re designing a stable economy, we have the knowledge and experience to do so," Blizzard said last year. "We have people in-house with doctorates and degrees in statistics and economic analysis and all the know how to pull it off."

Diablo 3 may or may not arrive by the end of 2011 for the PC, but we at least now know that the end is in sight. Blizzard is also reportedly working on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, but the company is keeping a tight lip on their potential release.