Just a few short weeks ago Blizzard ended its open beta for Diablo IV, but it turns out, the studio may be teasing a third beta to come before launch.
Diablo IV will launch officially on June 6, though anyone who pre-orders will get four days of early access. And based on the actual times of the launch, players in the US will have launch access starting June 5. Which means their early access will start June 1. That makes it 41 days before players will officially get their next crack at diving back into Sanctuary to save the world from hell’s hordes once more. Or so it would seem.
On April 19 the official Diablo Twitter account published a tweet that talks about an upcoming livestream, which begins on April 20 at 11am PST. In the tweet, it says the livestream will include the developers talking about endgame details, changes made since the beta, “and more.” It’s this last bit that’s part of the speculation about a third Diablo IV beta. But it’s not the whole picture. On an older Diablo tweet from April 7, a comment states “need more Diablo IV game time having withdrawal.”
The official Diablo Twitter then quote-tweeted that comment yesterday following the post about the livestream stating “that can be arranged.” This seems to be a hint that there may be another beta coming. At least that’s what some people are thinking. And it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
That can be arranged… https://t.co/PAqUDg7Cmu
— Diablo (@Diablo) April 20, 2023
Is a third Diablo IV beta that likely?
It’s tough to say. Some think that Blizzard may open up another beta for players to check out the endgame. Which would make sense given the livestream will talk about endgame mechanics and content. Blizzard did already hold an endgame beta last year. But that was a closed beta and those who had access had to be specifically selected by Blizzard. With the pool of participants mostly limited to those who played a lot of Diablo III endgame content over the years.
With that in mind, another beta isn’t entirely unlikely. And we certainly wouldn’t mind if there was one. Especially if it involved new content that wasn’t playable in the last beta period. That being said, any progress made would still likely be wiped prior to the launch. So even if there is another beta that came up, keep in mind that you would still need to start fresh again once the game goes live in June.
Update:
A previous version of this story referred to the potential of a “second beta” when it would in fact be a third beta. This post has been updated to reflect this.
2023-04-21 15:07:36