Diablo III

Diablo Timeline

Diablo

In Diablo, you portrayed a valiant rogue, sorcerer, or warrior scouring the catacombs beneath the tiny town of Tristram for an evil that threatened to infest the entire world -- Diablo, the Lord of Terror.

A rarity for many high-profile game launches at the time, Diablo was released for both Macintosh and Windows PCs, broadening the number of people who could enjoy it. In addition to pitting players against a seemingly endless horde of demons, undead, and vile creatures to hack through, Diablo enabled those hungry for a more social gaming experience to take part in multiplayer through our online service Battle.net.

Remember:

  • The first time you heard the Butcher say, “Ah, fresh meat!”
  • The opening chords of the Tristram town theme?
  • Slamming Diablo’s soulstone into your hero’s forehead?

Diablo II

Diablo II brought a four-act structure to the series, and the sequel saw heroes travelling to more diverse parts of Sanctuary than ever before. In Diablo II, you battled several of the most dangerous denizens of the Burning Hells, including two of the Lesser Evils, Diablo’s brother Mephisto, and, of course, the Lord of Terror himself. Bringing the distant angels of the High Heavens into play gave the Diablo series a new scope and a different approach to traditional “good vs evil” storytelling.

Diablo II’s five unique classes (amazon, barbarian, necromancer, paladin, and sorceress) broadened the core archetypes of the previous game, and the customizable skill trees made these classes feel markedly different from one another. New mechanics -- sockets, gems, dual wielding, hirelings, and more -- rounded out the series’ renowned feeling of constant progression, and of developing your hero to your specifications. Updates to Battle.net also made it easier than ever for you to party up, engage in thrilling duels, and hunt down valuable artifacts while adventuring online.

Remember:

  • Dying to Duriel in Act 2?
  • The Secret Cow Level?
  • Transforming items in the Horadric Cube?
  • “Tyrael’s” conversation with Marius in the asylum?
  • Seeing other characters decked out in amazing gear in Battle.net chat?

Lord of Destruction

In Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, you hunted down Baal, one of the Prime Evils and the brother of Diablo, as he ravaged the Barbarians of Arreat in search of the Worldstone, a priceless relic tied into the fabric of the world of Sanctuary. Lord of Destruction also added two new classes to Diablo II’s roster: the druid, a versatile master of shape-shifting, summoning, and elemental magic; and the assassin, a practitioner of mental disciplines, skilled in the use of traps and deadly martial arts.

Further depth was added to Diablo II’s already prodigious item list with rune words, charms, jewels, and new item properties like “ethereal”; and changes to the game allowed for hirelings to level up and equip items, laying the groundwork for Diablo III’s followers.

Remember:

  • The barbarian dwelling of Harrogath?
  • The battle with Baal for the Worldstone?
  • The first time you arranged a rune word?

The Diablo III beta is underway and we’re counting the days until the latest chapter in this storied franchise is ready to be unleashed upon the world.
We look to Diablo’s legacy and the passionate player community for inspiration -- they drive us to make Diablo III the best entry in the series yet.
We hope you’ll enjoy playing it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it.

Report Post # written by
Reason
Explain (256 characters max)

Reported!

[Close]

Comments (503)

Login to rate
15 years later and still waiting for this game to come out
Login to rate
i can not wait i wish i could play beta so i can give feedback i need another key please
Login to rate
Spongeeebob #351
Spongeeebob
1 day, 7 hours ago
I NEED THE BETA KEY!
Login to rate
JoeyShamrock#1143
D3BETA
JoeyShamrock
1 day, 11 hours ago
The Beta lets you get to level 13 not 10.........
Login to rate
D3 is a blast to play however, only letting me play to lvl 10 is sad so please let me play to lvl 15
Login to rate
Kneecaper
Skullcrusher
Kneecaper
2 days, 5 hours ago
give me betas!
Login to rate
Can I have beta access?
Login to rate
Wölfprincess
Nazgrel
Wölfprincess
2 days, 11 hours ago
How do I get to play it? I can't seem to figure it out.
Login to rate
Promethius #859
Promethius
2 days, 18 hours ago
yep it is the best game ....ever !!!! ok so where is the beta i need it ..
Login to rate
hehe ... timeline!
Login to rate
KingGhidorah #584
KingGhidorah
3 days, 3 hours ago
Best video game series in my opinion... now if i could only get in the beta...
Login to rate
Release Or Die!
Login to rate
Kuroihime
Kael'thas
Kuroihime
4 days, 3 hours ago
man those graphics are freaky real... holy crap!
Login to rate
Elminster #531
Elminster
5 days, 2 hours ago
thank you for creating such a masterpiece i.e. D1 and D2+exp, hopefully this continues in D3+exp
Login to rate
QcXLorDeviLX #646
QcXLorDeviLX
2/15/2012
diablo 1 an 97 wtf c qui l incompetant qui as fais saaaaaaa!!!!!

who the fk did the time line bcuz is not real im a fan of diablo and you guys dont!!!!!
Login to rate
QcXLorDeviLX #646
QcXLorDeviLX
2/15/2012
tbrnk la ligne du temps est meme pas vrais c koi saa TBRNK
puie ses quan d quont calis le gas ye fru la tu comprand tannner la datandre CALIS D ESTIE
Login to rate
TheAlphaBeta #405
TheAlphaBeta
2/14/2012
lol it's been 15 years since the announcement of diablo 3. we are planning an anniversary party commemorating this to coincide with its release date. LOL
Login to rate
Shadowokamí
Gorefiend
Shadowokamí
2/14/2012
10y so ya this game needs to come out cuz that a dum amount of time to wait for a new diablo... i love blizzard but cmon really
Login to rate
EvilActivity #551
EvilActivity
2/12/2012
Watching the retospective brought a tear to my eye, LOVE the diablo saga
Login to rate
Teveshszat #279
Teveshszat
2/11/2012
All Blizzard needs now is for Bashiok to issue another statement on behalf of Blizzard to quell the impatient fanbase.
I can imagine it going something like this.

"Please, no hurt....no kill....and goood bring to yoooouuuu," soon.

On a serious note it will be interesting to see if they bring back some of the D1 mini-bosses like Gharbad, The Weak.
Login to rate
JUSTICE #459
JUSTICE
2/10/2012
This game has been long time anticipated. I'm very excited and looking forward to playing this game! The only thing I wish is that the're new characters with great graphics.
Login to rate
Annviar
Duskwood
Annviar
2/10/2012
Celebrating 15 years Diablo 3 has been in construction.... *sigh*
Login to rate
Babygnome
Firetree
Babygnome
2/10/2012
I'm not sure how i feel about there being only four classes in D3. I hope (and trust) blizzard knows what they're doing and still makes it possible to have diversity in characters, unlike WoW where everybody want's the same gear :\
Login to rate
Devolution #465
Devolution
2/11/2012
@Babygnome: monk, barb, demon hunter, wizard and witchdoctor... does that equal 4 or 5? hmm
Login to rate
Ludicity#1491
D3BETA
Ludicity
2/10/2012
ugh Q2 is the new "target"... so will it actually happen in Q2? not like were ever gonna know
Login to rate
Dänte
Haomarush
Dänte
2/9/2012
Why can't it just come out already
Login to rate
Athersn
Stormrage
Athersn
2/9/2012
i hope this game comes out with in this century.
Login to rate
Leafkisser
Kul Tiras
Leafkisser
2/10/2012
@Athersn: /sigh i know what ya mean =/
Login to rate
Azora
Zuluhed
Azora
2/8/2012
Diablo has been one of the greatest games i have ever played since i started playing rpg type games. Amazing! keep up the good work Blizzard.
Login to rate
Constantine#1300
D3BETA
Constantine
2/7/2012
Epic :D
Login to rate
Oying #925
Oying
2/7/2012
Is this going to make the supposes March target release date? i played the beta at a friend's house and seemed good so far. As Far as I'm concerned, they can make it for the March target release date, and just release small patches and updates like what they do for SC2.
Login to rate
Sercc #130
Sercc
2/6/2012
Played and beat the Beta as a wizard at my friends house. It's awesome.
Here's hoping the full game will be released soon.
Login to rate
Why is it that Diablo Hellfire has no mention anywhere?
Login to rate
Sercc #130
Sercc
2/6/2012
@Dux: Hellfire was released by Sierra as an authorized expansion for Diablo. Blizzard didn't make it.
Login to rate
Sepo #310
Sepo
2/5/2012
I would love to play the beta, i would also love to know if or when the console version will come out (:
Login to rate
Darven
Grizzly Hills
Darven
2/5/2012
i wish they had that timeline for Wow i wanna see when the beta test comes out
Login to rate
Igneel #636
Igneel
2/4/2012
:( want to play the beta
Login to rate
Clasic
Madoran
Clasic
2/4/2012
To think I was... hmmmm. 5 when diablo 1 came out. And I bought it when i was 7... Ever since like the end of 2007 I've been reading to so much into this game. Checking the site ever few days... I just wish i could have gotten a invite to the beta. I love diablo, great game.
Login to rate
Mephisto #280
Mephisto
2/4/2012
you can see the repetition of delays in the timeline just as diablo 3 is being delayed so was diablo 2 expected to be released in 1998 didnt get released till 2000 lol
Login to rate
Poulsen #844
Poulsen
2/3/2012
If Diablo III's beta testing period follows in a similar time frame as when the beta testing of Diablo II occured, then its quite possible to conceive that we'll see D3's release within 3 months or so!?