Guide Note

Diablo III is the long-awaited sequel to Blizzard's best-selling Diablo II.¹ The official announcement was made on June 28, 2008, at the Blizzard Entertainment World Invitational following several days of widespread speculation that began after a mysterious splash screen appeared on the company's main website.

According to Jay Wilson, the game's lead designer, the project has been in development for four years.² However, co-founder Frank Pearce later added that it was still very much in its infant stages and gave no indication that it would be released in the near future.³

Fast Facts

1. Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
2. Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
3. Platforms: PC, Mac OS X
4. Genre: Action/Role-Playing Game
5. Modes: Single player and multiplayer
6. ESRB rating: Rating Pending (RP)
7. Release date: TBA

Diablo III takes place approximately two decades after the events of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, in a location known as Sanctuary. A long and peaceful existence has afforded many people the luxury of ignorance. Those who managed to survive the invasion of Hell's armies either attempted to cope by pretending to forget it ever happened or were driven completely mad by the horrors they witnessed. As a result, the memories of what happened have faded from everyone's mind, becoming little more than mere myth and legend. However, unbeknownst to the people, a dark presence lurks not far beyond the horizon and threatens to thrust the world back into chaos once again.

In order to modernize the series, the developers plan to mesh several new features with the trademark hack-n-slash gameplay for which the franchise is known. Havok physics middleware has been incorporated to allow for environmental destructibility and each level will be designed in 3D rather than 2D; the traditional perspective will remain unchanged.⁴

Of the five classes that will be available at launch, two have been announced so far: the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor. The former has been completely revamped with all new abilities and skills, while the latter appears to draw many parallels with the Necromancer class, due in part to the similar nature of the character's summoning and defensive skills.⁵⁶