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Diablo 3 to ship early 2012

Blizzard to "make the most" of the extra time.

Diablo 3 will ship in early 2012, Blizzard has announced.

"With every game we make, the temptation is always very strong to launch as soon as possible," Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime said.

"However, we didn't put so many years of work into Diablo 3 to release a game that was almost ready.

"The beta test is going very well, and we look forward to making the most of the extra time we're taking to deliver an experience that lives up to our vision for the game and the expectations of our players. Next year is going to be an incredibly busy one for Blizzard, and we hope an incredibly fun one for Blizzard gamers."

Blizzard said it will use the additional time to extend the Diablo 3 closed beta test, which began this week, "potentially" adding more testers than initially projected.

Players who have an active Battle.net account with any Blizzard game attached to it should visit Battle.net account management to opt in for a chance to participate in the beta test, the developer advised.