Let me start off by saying there is no Diablo III release date, and Blizzard has never given one. Not even a tentative one. Not even an estimate at one. When asked about a release date, Blizzard employees give the same reply for all their games.
“When it’s done.”
Diablo 3 release dates are often given/guessed at by media(that’s us) sources and especially by software merchants. These dates have no authority and exist solely to spur interest/pre-sales.
Things have been very quiet lately but I think we all can say this is just the calm before the storm and to prove that Blizzard just released the sale dates for Blizzcon 2011. The event will be held on Friday, October 21, 2011 and October 22, 2011, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. PT (both days) at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802
Ticket sales start Saturday, May 21 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time and Wednesday, May 25 at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. Blizcon 2010 sold out VERY fast so don’t be surprised if it’s sold out in 30 minutes if not sooner. Visit the official website: http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcon/en/
So why is this such a big deal, well we are going to get so much great content on Diablo 3. Look at the official blizzcon website; Diablo 3 is the center piece! Plus I really think we are going to get a release date if the beta goes well; which, I have no doubt will go great!
The D3 Team regularly refered to a future beta test, but did not absolutely confirm it until Blizzcon 2010. They’ve not made any comments since then about what the beta might contain. Diablo II’s beta was all five characters, but just Act One and the first three tiers of skills. It’s likely that the Diablo III beta would follow a similar path, since the developers need to include enough game to keep players interested and to test out the early going. They do not want to reveal all of the plot and late game content though.
Blizzard beta tests generally last 4-6 months, and Jay Wilson estimated that Diablo III would release about six months after its beta test begins.