Returning to Hell: Diablo III launches worldwide tonight
Just short of four years since its announcement at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational in Paris, Diablo III will finally launch worldwide from midnight tonight.
"The fire from the sky still falls - Diablo III
has not yet launched." :'(
Blizzard will launch Diablo III tonight at midnight worldwide.
The game was announced at the company's Worldwide Invitational in Paris on Saturday, June 27, 2008 by Mike Morhaime. The last game, Diablo II, launched back in June 2000. Expansion Lord of Destruction launched the following June.
Tonight, Blizzard will celebrate Diablo III's release with a series of worldwide events. In London, the official midnight launch will happen on HMV Oxford Street. Already, going by Twitter chatter, there are some people queueing up. To those doing so, we salute you.
Sam Clay will be attending the launch and an official launch event from Blizzard in London today for VG247.
Blizzard will also host an event alongside GameStop in Irvine, California - where the company's HQ is based - from 8pm PST tonight that'll include giveaways and dev appearances.
Other events being hosted include those in France, Germany, Sweden, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and the region of Taiwan.
No stock for GAME AU, no refunds for pre-orders
One outlet that won't be selling Diablo III tonight will be the Australian arm of GAME. After news of it going into administration emerged this morning, its now confirmed it won't be selling the game and won't be offering refunds to any pre-orders due to its current status.
"Due to the appointment of an administrator to our business this morning, it is with regret that I inform you all that our stores will not be receiving any stock of Diablo 3," said the retailer in a text to pre-orders this morning.
"Because of this, we regrettably will be unable to fulfill any pre-orders. Also, we will be unable to refund any deposits paid towards a pre-order of Diablo 3. If you need any more info, please email customerrelations@game.com.au."
Don't expect many in the way of reviews come midnight, by the by: journalists have been locked out of the game until 12:01am, meaning we're just as much in the dark with you lot.
After the release of D3 will come the potential console version. Blizzard's said it's currently experimenting with the game for consoles, but no official word has been made on if it'll come or not.