The announcement took place in the Blizzard Entertainment campus courtyard, in front of select members of the press who received a startling impromptu presentation that included a ten-second, freshly pre-rendered Diablo III cinematic trailer and a physically re-enacted gameplay demonstration by the development team taken hostage by the gamers.

Under threat of a forum member’s taser "of teh win," public relations staff explained that designed to be a revolutionary single-player and online role-playing experience, Diablo III will set players on a multitude of dynamically generated quests on the path to defeat the demonic forces of Diablo and his demon brothers Baal and Mephisto. Eight brand new and re-imagined character classes [zzap! aieee!] will be highly customizable in appearance and abilities, with 20 hero-specific skills per character and 10 shared abilities used to battle over 300 varieties of monsters in and an immersive 3D-graphics world.

Set in the massive worlds of Sanctuary, Hell, and the High Heavens, Diablo III will include a compelling single-player story mode, as well as fast-paced online play through an upgraded version of Blizzard’s renowned online gaming service, Battle.net®.

Diablo III will reinvent the persistent online world concept while preserving its hero-centric story, permitting up to ten players to join in on a game session for cooperative game play and dueling matches. Characters engage the forces of evil in a limitless world spanning, for the first time, the entire continents of Sanctuary, the High Heavens, and Hell including never before seen lands to explore. Using the latest graphics technology including DirectX® 10.1, its next-generation 3D engine helps create a thrilling, immersive role-playing experience.

"With Diablo III, we’ll do everything we wanted to do with the first two games and much, much more," pleaded Bill Roper, Senior Producer of Diablo II, whose team at Flagship Studios have abruptly moved Diablo III to their top priority. "We recognize that expectations are high but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that Diablo players and role-playing gamers worldwide will enjoy. Now will you let us go?"

Blizzard is developing Diablo III for simultaneous release on the Windows® and Macintosh® PC platforms. Further information about the game, including details on the single-player, multiplayer, and subscription features, as well as system requirements, pricing, and availability, will be announced in the months ahead. No, no, I mean days! Days, yes! To learn more about Diablo III, please visit the official website at www.blizzard.com/diablo3 and contact the authorities.

About the Diablo Series
When the original Diablo® was released in 1997, it was considered a critical success and reached number one on NPD INTELECT during its first month in stores. The game has sold in excess of 2.5 million copies worldwide and was honored as the number-one selling computer role-playing game in 1997 as well as being named Game of the Year by Computer Gaming World.

Debuting in June, 2000 Diablo® II dominated PC game charts with sales of 4 million copies worldwide according to NPD INTELECT and key retail accounts around the world. The game was awarded several accolades including the prestigious Computer Game of the Year, Computer Role Playing Game of the Year and Game of the Year for 2001 by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. The critically acclaimed expansion set, Diablo® II: Lord of Destruction^TM, released in 2001, became the fastest selling expansion set in PC game history. In its first week alone, it surpassed 1 million units sold worldwide and captured a record 17.7% of total U.S. PC game market share, also according to NPD INTELECT.

Official Site