There's talk that details surrounding the reported Diablo 3 "external beta" will be revealed to the public on August 1st. The news arrives after Blizzard quietly distributed an invitation to a special Diablo 3 press event at their campus in Irvine, California just days prior on July 27.
Although details weren't provided, G4 believes that the Diablo 3 press briefing will cover unannounced features, additional details in regards to the game's world, possibly a full disclosure on a bonus class called the Banker, and of course the Diablo 3 beta. The August 1 date attached to the Diablo 3 beta stems from the press event's required embargo which is coincidentally August 1.. and also falls within Q3 2011, the same timeframe the beta is expected to launch.
But MTV's Multiplayer claims that the Diablo 3 press event will actually be dedicated to the upcoming beta. "Since the event is dedicated solely to the "Diablo 3" beta, we expect to learn some of the more pertinent details about its release, including the release date, contents and how folks will be able to register to participate," the site reports.
MTV Multiplayer also points out that launching the beta next month before the press event wouldn't make sense, as gamers would get the scoop before the invited members of the press got their exclusive teste. Thus, Diablo 3 fans will likely not see the beta until August 1 or sometime shortly thereafter.
The Diablo 3 beta was first revealed during Activision's first quarter investor call last month. Blizzard president and a co-founder Mike Morhaime even admitted that the Diablo 3 team was conducting a company-wide test of the product and planned to unleash an external beta to the gaming public in Q3 2011.
"The game is looking great and we are currently targeting a Q3 launch for external beta testing," he said. "The development team is working hard to try to launch 'Diablo 3' this year, but I want to be clear. We do not have an official release date or window yet."
Given that BlizzCon 2011 doesn't take place until the end of October, launching the beta during the show wouldn't give Blizzard ample time to test the game publicly if it plans to go gold before the end of the year. But as Morhaime said, the game will be done when it's done. That said, all the rumors and speculations surrounding the Diablo 3 beta will remain just that until details are officially revealed on August 1.
In the meantime, go play Dungeon Siege 3 which is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the franchise's home territory, Windows PC.
