Blizzard Pushing for 2011 Diablo III Release

In an earnings call that took play today, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime expressed the hope that Diablo III could make a 2011 release, despite earlier suggestions that it would slip into 2012. He makes no promises, though.

“There are a lot of moving parts in putting out a complex release like Diablo 3,” he said. “We talked about the new auction house technology which hasn’t been fully tested. We’re not yet in Beta, and really it’s just going to come down to when the game is ready for prime time.”

With the beta set to launch in Activision-Blizzard’s third quarter (ending September 30, 2011), I wouldn’t get my hopes up about a 2011 release.