Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Yesterday, Blizzard announced that Diablo IV‘s open beta is returning for one final weekend, from May 12th to May 14th. This is exhilirating news and a sure fire way to ramp up excitement levels before the official June 6th release date. It also happens to fall on the same weekend that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches. Talk about a busy weekend! If you haven’t already played the previous Diablo IV beta’s, I can’t recommend it enough. I’m a longtime fan of this franchise and this particular game, from the top-down camera to the snappy combat, plays like Diablo II. Again, this is positively thrilling, as Diablo II, though it released 23 years ago, is arguably one of Blizzard’s best games.
Originally, the beta was only reserved for those who pre-ordered the game (hi). Blizzard then later opened up the beta for anyone to play and enjoy (which is the way it should’ve been from the beginning). This beta will include rewards from the previous weekends, namely the wolf puppy backpack. Levels will cap at 20 and progress from previous weekends won’t transfer over. However, this time, you can expect better dungeon layouts, which will reduce the need to backtrack. Unfortunately, Blizzard also nerfed the Necromancer class. That means your precious minions will die more often. UI interface and monster encounter fixes will also be implemented in this beta.
If I learned anything from the previous beta weekends, it’s to expect long queue times. If you’re able to, I’d recommend logging in as soon as the beta goes live at 9 a.m. PDT. Diablo IV officially releases on June 6th for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The beta (aka the Server Slam) will become available on May 10th via download.
Author: Ashley Biancuzzo, Associate Editor
Ashley is a professional writer and editor with a strong background in tech and pop culture. She has written for high traffic websites such as Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her off time, she enjoys playing video games, reading science fiction novels, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.
