Diablo III Coming in “The Next Few Years”

The action RPG title won’t come in 2010 and could drop as late as 2014, depending on your definition of “few.”

During a presentation in New York from Activision Blizzard’s chief financial officer, Thomas Tippl, it was revealed that Diablo III will not be released in 2010. In a slide entitled “Blizzard Lineup Drives Growth” there are three columns with the labels “2009,” “2010” and “Next Few Years.” StarCraft II and Cataclysm made the 2010 column, but firmly in the catch-all last column is the much-anticipated Diablo III.

Blizzard is notorious for never prematurely announcing release dates, preferring to state that a game is done when it is done. And it appears the company has enough on its hands in 2010 with releasing SC2 and an expansion to the world’s biggest MMO. When the beta for SC2 was put off until 2010, part of me knew that many of Blizzard’s other projects would be effected.

It is sad news, though, for Diablo fans who were hoping beyond hope that their game would come before the holiday season next year. Sorry, guys, you have to wait at least until early 2011, and possibly even later. “Next Few Years” is quite a nebulous timeframe and Blizzard’s slate certainly looks full what with that big looming “Unannounced MMO” on the horizon.

Unfortunately, I could certainly see Diablo III being pushed back even farther to 2012 or even 2013. You can begin the hari-kiri now.

Source and image: Kotaku