Diablo News

[B]The Ninth Circle[/B] was written from 2002-2006, by David Kay, and with 58 installments it was the longest running column in Diabloii.net’s history. The Ninth Circle covered computer gaming, RPGs, fantasy novels, the gamer’s life, and other related issues. Full column listing: A Patch or a Crutch?—Nov 12, 2002 Baang: Or Why I No Longer … Read more

[B]Garwulf’s Corner Columns:[/B] Full column listing: Harlan Ellison, Diablo, and Insomnia—October 31, 2000 The Royal Circlet and the Hacker—November 14, 2000 Revelations from the Exorcist—November 30, 2000 Films for the Diablo Fan—December 11, 2000 Millennial Thoughts—December 29, 2000 Walking with the Dead—January 8, 2001 Emails from the Edge—January 22, 2001 I am NOT Harlan Ellison—February … Read more

IRVINE, Calif. – June 28, 2000 – Blizzard Entertainment® announced today that Diablo™ II, its highly anticipated real-time action role-playing game, has started shipping to stores worldwide. The game, which has initial orders of 2 million copies, will start arriving at retailers by the end of the week. In Diablo II, players return to a … Read more

June 27th, 2000: Havas Interactive, a global leader in interactive content. The second largest publisher of entertainment software for PCs and the second largest publisher of educational software is pleased to announce Diablo II street date of June 30th. Diablo II returns to a world of dark fantasy. As one of five distinct character types, … Read more

IRVINE, Calif. – June 7, 2000 – Gamers should start clearing their calendars and stocking up on caffeinated beverages now. Blizzard Entertainment® announced today that Diablo II, its highly anticipated real-time action role-playing game, has gone gold. The game, which has initial orders in excess of 1.5 million copies worldwide, will start shipping to retailers … Read more

IRVINE, Calif. – April 28, 2000 – Blizzard today announced plans for Diablo™ II‘s Battle.net® stress test — the final phase of Diablo II beta testing and the company’s largest public beta test to date. Starting Monday morning, hardcore gamers around the world will have the opportunity to register for their chance to be one of up to … Read more

Blizzard Entertainment announces a one-time production run of Diablo II Collector’s Edition. Available only during Diablo II’s initial launch, this special edition will be offered in limited quantities. The Collector’s Edition will include Diablo II on four CD-ROMs, a 24-minute Diablo II cinematic on DVD in wide-screen letter box format, the Diablo II soundtrack with … Read more

IRVINE, Nov. 12, 1999 – Blizzard Entertainment has gone Hollywood. Known for building high-quality cinematic movies into its popular video games, the company announced today that it has produced a short portion of its Diablo II cinematic film for the silver screen. The film, which runs approximately eight minutes, is entitled Diablo: The Calling, and … Read more

The release date of Diablo II has been the subject of great speculation in recent weeks as the result of delays in starting the beta test. After discussing the time needed to fully play-balance, polish, beta test and debug the game, we feel that it is important to let the gaming community know that we … Read more

Battle.net dominates on-line gaming with more than 4.5 million active accounts; international markets spur growth. Blizzard Entertainment’s online game service, Battle.net, continues to gain momentum as the world’s largest Internet playing venue. The number of active users has surged to more than 4.5 million active accounts that log more than 1.3 million games daily. Peak … Read more

Los Angeles, May 15, 1999 – At the Electronic Entertainment Expo starting today, Blizzard Entertainment® announced a series of strategic licensing partnerships for its three number-one selling game properties, Diablo™, StarCraft™ and Warcraft®. Line extensions include novels, paper-based games, strategy guides and action figures. Blizzard is in final negotiations with a major book publisher to … Read more

Los Angeles – May 13, 1999 – At the Electronic Entertainment Expo starting today, Blizzard Entertainmentâ previewed DiabloÔ II, the sequel to its top selling role-playing game of 1997, featuring 3D accelerator support via Glide 3 and OpenGL . Blizzard for the first time showed Diablo II’s perspective scaling and parallax, a new display option within the game’s suite of … Read more

IRVINE, April 14, 1999 – Blizzard Entertainment®’s unveiled today some new details about the status of Diablo II, the much-anticipated sequel to 1997’s highly acclaimed role-playing game, Diablo. Blizzard has finished developing Diablo II’s five new character classes: the Amazon, the Paladin, the Necromancer, the Sorceress and the Barbarian. Each character can develop 30 unique, class-specific skills and … Read more

Parsippany, NJ, November 20, 1998-Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD) today announced a definitive agreement to sell the Company’s consumer software division, Cendant Software and its subsidiaries, to Paris-based Havas SA, a subsidiary of Vivendi SA for $800 million in cash plus future cash contingent payments of up to approximately $200 million through 1999. The transaction is subject … Read more

Microstar to stop distribution and sale of Stellar Forces, an unauthorized add-on disk for Blizzard’s number-one selling StarCraft IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 9, 1998 – As part of a legal victory that sends a strong message to publishers of unauthorized computer game add-on disks, Blizzard Entertainment announced today that Microstar Software has agreed to immediately cease … Read more

LONDON, ECTS Convention, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Blizzard Entertainment(R) and 3Dfx Interactive(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: TDFX – news) today announced that Diablo(TM) II, sequel to Blizzard’s top selling roll-playing game of 1997, will include native support for 3Dfx hardware. Blizzard is one of the first to develop on the newly announced Glide(TM) 3 software from 3Dfx. … Read more

LONDON, Sept. 7, 1997 — At the European Computer Trade Show, Blizzard Entertainment announced Diablo 2, the sequel to this year’s number-one selling Diablo. The title is currently slated for a late 1998 release. In Diablo II, players return to a dark world plagued by evil forces. As one of five heroes, players must undertake … Read more

IRVINE, Calif., June 25, 1997 — Blizzard Entertainment announced today that 13 million games of Diablo have been played over Battle.net since the game’s release in January. More than 700,000 registered users have played Diablo on Battle.net, making it the largest on-line gaming service in the world. Additionally, according to PC Data’s latest figures, Diablo remains the number-one selling game for the fourth consecutive month and … Read more

As Battle.net’s on-line popularity continues to soar, Blizzard readies new multiplayer options and partners with international Internet service providers ATLANTA, June 18, 1997 – Following the hugely successful launch of Battle.net earlier this year, Blizzard Entertainment today announced plans to expand the online gaming service by including additional on-line capabilities and by building a global … Read more

IRVINE, Calif., April 8, 1997 — Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo remains the hottest selling game in the U.S. according to the latest sales figures from PC Data. After debuting at number one in January, Diablo earned the top spot again in February. Worldwide, the game has sold more than half a million copies based on sales information from PC Data and … Read more