Blizzard says they’ll release Diablo III in 2011 if they can

Feb. 11, 2011 (6:40 pm) By: John Brownlee

Blizzard is rather famous for taking a long time to deliver their latest games. Their last game, StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty took three years to come out once it was announced in May 19th, 2007… and Diablo III was looking like it would take even t longer, since it was not on Activision’s release schedule for 2011.
It’s possible, though, that Diablo fans won’t have much longer to wait after all. Kotaku managed to catch up with Blizzard founder Michael Morhaime in Las Vegas at this week’s Interactive Arts and Sciences Awards and asked, point blank, whether or not Diablo III would be coming out this year.
“We really, really hope so. That’s our goal,” Pardo said. “Our goal is to get there. But you know, at the end of the day, we are going to get it right. That’s more important. We’re going to promise, we’re going to get it out there when it’s awesome. And, we’re crossing our fingers, maybe it will be this year.”
That’s a “when it’s done” if I ever heard one, but even though Duke Nukem Forever ran that phrase into the ground, Blizzard, at least, has a history of delivering titles.
As for whether Diablo III might not be too small for today’s gamers. Blizzard’s Rob Pardo said: “The thing Diablo has always done really well is broaden the RPG market. It brought people into it, who might not have come into it before. It’s there for anyone who wants to have fun for 15 minutes or three hours.”
Let’s hope these guys manage to get Diablo III to us before the New Year. If not, as an aside, might I recommend a brilliant little Diablo-like called Din’s Curse. It doesn’t look like much, but this is the finest ARPG I’ve ever played.