Blizzard's Pardo Confirms: No Diablo III in 2010

[John Funk]

Blizzard's Pardo Confirms: No Diablo III in 2010

Blizzard VP of Game Design Rob Pardo has confirmed hints from earlier this month that action-RPG Diablo III won't see a 2010 release - but that WoW: Cataclysm and StarCraft II aren't to blame.

Techland [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96110-Diablo-III-Coming-in-The-Next-Few-Years], Blizzard's Rob Pardo confirmed that it was safe to say that D3 wouldn't be in our hands next year.

"We always announce all of our games too early," admitted Pardo, and he has a point: Diablo III was announced July 2008, whereas StarCraft II was unveiled in May 2007 and still isn't out. "We realize that and go, 'You know what? Next time we're not going to do that.' And then we always fail at that. But I'd rather fail at that than fail at making the game great."

While some miffed Diablo fans may want to blame Cataclysm and SC2 for the game's late release (at least a decade after the last Diablo game, 2001's Diablo II: Lord of Destruction), Pardo explained that each game - as well as the company's unannounced MMOG project - had its own, entirely separate design team. "We just have a different process and approach than a lot of other studios, and it makes it a very difficult process for us to predict street dates when we're multiple years out."

Nor is Blizzard bound to fiscal calendars for its releases, said Pardo, even after its parent company Vivendi merged its game division with the infamously profit-minded Activision (under the helm of Gamer Public Enemy No.1, Bobby Kotick). "[W]e know that our fanbase is not going to hold us to a fiscal calendar. With Burning Crusade, we missed Christmas by about three weeks. We could've shoved it out the door, but we decided we didn't need to get it into stores for Christmas. We just needed it to be great and our playerbase is going to buy it whenever it hits the shelves."

Who knows when Diablo III will be out? Not us, and not Blizzard. But if the levels I'd played at the past two BlizzCon events are any indication, it'll be f*ckin' awesome whenever it finally sees the light of day.

The full interview is over at WoW five-year anniversary interview? [http://techland.com/2009/11/19/blizzard-who-knows-when-diablo-iii-will-ship/]

Permalink

 

[Yudas]

Thats it. Half my friendbase are going to kill themselves.

 

[Amnestic]

This is how surprised I am at this announcement:




Moving on, 2012 seems like a good a time as any for Diablo 3 to hit. Then again, maybe 2011. Or 2013.

All we know is that it'll be Soon[sup]TM[/sup]

 

[Last of the Chinchillas]

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry...

So close, yet so far.

 

[KiKiweaky]

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry...

So close, yet so far.

I feel your pain... :'( *sniff*

I dont mind as long as they make a proper game out of it I'l be happy I have faith in Blizzard to do Diablo III justice.

 

[Diablini]

Any Diablo 3 fan that is looking up on development knows that there will be no Diablo 3 in 2010. 2011 seems like something decent, 2012 is a must.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Ah well, least I still have StarCraft II.

 

[Low Key]

I don't understand how it takes 10+ years to make a game. I have played both Diablo's, which is amazing since I'm not much of a PC gamer, and though I have been thoroughly impressed by both, one has to wonder what kind of work week the dev team has. 50 developers working 40 hours a week with 7 weeks of vacation time for 10 years still adds up to about 900,000 hours of development.

The last game that has taken more than 10 years to be released was Duke Nukem, and even though I don't see Blizzard going the way of 3D Realms, it's time for them to get their shit together and release a game. Without WoW, I don't see how they could expect to turn a profit releasing a $60 game. My greatest fear is Blizzard might say "screw it" after this one because of that.

 

[RobbinHood]

Well lets hope for 2012 then. That sounds like a good year if that the case, because the Cubs might be able to actually play baseball that year as well. YAY! 2012!!! Oh, and the world will end, so lets make it one GIANT party full of Diablo, and baseball, and that end of the world thing...

 

[Amnestic]

I don't understand how it takes 10+ years to make a game. I have played both Diablo's, which is amazing since I'm not much of a PC gamer, and though I have been thoroughly impressed by both, one has to wonder what kind of work week the dev team has. 50 developers working 40 hours a week with 7 weeks of vacation time for 10 years still adds up to about 900,000 hours of development.

The last game that has taken more than 10 years to be released was Duke Nukem, and even though I don't see Blizzard going the way of 3D Realms, it's time for them to get their shit together and release a game. Without WoW, I don't see how they could expect to turn a profit releasing a $60 game. My greatest fear is Blizzard might say "screw it" after this one because of that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but where did it say that the Diablo team has been working since LoD was finished?

It's all too possible that their work on D3 started much later than that and it's been only a scant few years rather than almost a decade.

 

[Georgeman]

Oh, my goodness! The earth is round, the sky is blue and Mario is a Nintendo franchise! Also, Blizzard games take ages to be created! ZOMG!

In all seriousness, who actually believed that the game would be ready for the next year? Especially considering that Starcraft II has yet to be released...

 

[John Funk]

I don't understand how it takes 10+ years to make a game. I have played both Diablo's, which is amazing since I'm not much of a PC gamer, and though I have been thoroughly impressed by both, one has to wonder what kind of work week the dev team has. 50 developers working 40 hours a week with 7 weeks of vacation time for 10 years still adds up to about 900,000 hours of development.

The last game that has taken more than 10 years to be released was Duke Nukem, and even though I don't see Blizzard going the way of 3D Realms, it's time for them to get their shit together and release a game. Without WoW, I don't see how they could expect to turn a profit releasing a $60 game. My greatest fear is Blizzard might say "screw it" after this one because of that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but where did it say that the Diablo team has been working since LoD was finished?

It's all too possible that their work on D3 started much later than that and it's been only a scant few years rather than almost a decade.

They've been working since not too long after that - it's just that the game has gone through multiple revisions before they found something they wanted to go with.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

why does this come as a shock to anyone? they do this ALL the time, they always say "oh we're making this game but it won't come out for a few years" and then people are shocked it takes several years for the game to come out

 

[Low Key]

I don't understand how it takes 10+ years to make a game. I have played both Diablo's, which is amazing since I'm not much of a PC gamer, and though I have been thoroughly impressed by both, one has to wonder what kind of work week the dev team has. 50 developers working 40 hours a week with 7 weeks of vacation time for 10 years still adds up to about 900,000 hours of development.

The last game that has taken more than 10 years to be released was Duke Nukem, and even though I don't see Blizzard going the way of 3D Realms, it's time for them to get their shit together and release a game. Without WoW, I don't see how they could expect to turn a profit releasing a $60 game. My greatest fear is Blizzard might say "screw it" after this one because of that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but where did it say that the Diablo team has been working since LoD was finished?

It's all too possible that their work on D3 started much later than that and it's been only a scant few years rather than almost a decade.

Okay, so they may not have been working non-stop for 10 years, but if it's true each game has it's own dev team (which I'm sure consists of more than just 50 people too), it shouldn't be taking this long. It was originally annouced in 2008, which leads me to believe they had at least 3 years of development already into it. Adding on another 2 would make it 5.

I'm sure not a lot of people are with me on this gripe, but someone's gotta have something to ***** about (it just wouldn't feel right otherwise), and I guess it's going to be me about this.

 

[Amnestic]

I don't understand how it takes 10+ years to make a game. I have played both Diablo's, which is amazing since I'm not much of a PC gamer, and though I have been thoroughly impressed by both, one has to wonder what kind of work week the dev team has. 50 developers working 40 hours a week with 7 weeks of vacation time for 10 years still adds up to about 900,000 hours of development.

The last game that has taken more than 10 years to be released was Duke Nukem, and even though I don't see Blizzard going the way of 3D Realms, it's time for them to get their shit together and release a game. Without WoW, I don't see how they could expect to turn a profit releasing a $60 game. My greatest fear is Blizzard might say "screw it" after this one because of that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but where did it say that the Diablo team has been working since LoD was finished?

It's all too possible that their work on D3 started much later than that and it's been only a scant few years rather than almost a decade.

Okay, so they may not have been working non-stop for 10 years, but if it's true each game has it's own dev team (which I'm sure consists of more than just 50 people too), it shouldn't be taking this long.

I'm sure not a lot of people are with me on this gripe, but someone's gotta have something to ***** about (it just wouldn't feel right otherwise), and I guess it's going to be me about this.

What can I say? Blizzard (and Bioware, as a sidenote) have earned major karma points with me over the years where every game I've played from them has been nothing less than an exceptional experience.

If it takes them another four years to make D3 every bit as good as I know they can make it, so be it. If fanboying over Blizzard has taught me one thing in life, it's that patience is a virtue with them \o/

 

[ark123]

Well I think I speak for everyone when I say

MOTHER. FUCKER.

 

[Low Key]

What can I say? Blizzard (and Bioware, as a sidenote) have earned major karma points with me over the years where every game I've played from them has been nothing less than an exceptional experience.

If it takes them another four years to make D3 every bit as good as I know they can make it, so be it. If fanboying over Blizzard has taught me one thing in life, it's that patience is a virtue with them \o/

Well, I guess I am getting into the right profession then if release schedules don't need to be adhered to in the world of video games. I was raised by a father who worked in the TV biz, and when he had a deadline to meet, he had to make it or he'd get fired. Seeing as he has several Emmys to show for it, quantity over quality isn't something he believed in either.

 

[Amnestic]

What can I say? Blizzard (and Bioware, as a sidenote) have earned major karma points with me over the years where every game I've played from them has been nothing less than an exceptional experience.

If it takes them another four years to make D3 every bit as good as I know they can make it, so be it. If fanboying over Blizzard has taught me one thing in life, it's that patience is a virtue with them \o/

Well, I guess I am getting into the right profession then if release schedules don't need to be adhered to in the world of video games. I was raised by a father who worked in the TV biz, and when he had a deadline to meet, he had to make it or he'd get fired. Seeing as he has several Emmys to show for it, quantity over quality isn't something he believed in either.

Deadlines don't need to be adhered to assuming you self-publish everything and have enough income to support yourself anyway KotOR2 is a perfect example of a game that was pushed out of the door to meet a release date.

 

[Andy_Panthro]

Gah. How long does it take?

I was expecting easter 2010! how far am I out?

Thankfully I have a rather long list of games to play until then.