Diablo 3 News

Battle.net renamed Blizzard Battle.net

Bigger name change rejected, new logo erected.

For nearly a year Blizzard has been threatening to change the name of its proprietary online multiplayer service Battle.net to the more on-brand Blizzard.net. That is the name of the company, after all, which would theoretically make things less confusing. However, after a scant few months under the new monicker Blizzard rethought this approach because the Battle.net name has been around for over 20 years (since the studio launched Diablo in 1996). Changing it now has led to bewilderment.

Diablo 3's Necromancer DLC out next week

Plus a new, complete Eternal Collection for consoles.

Blizzard has announced that the Rise of the Necromancer pack for Diablo 3, which adds the much-loved Necromancer character class from Diablo 2 to the younger game, will be released next week on 27th June.

Diablo 3 players divided on 20th anniversary patch

Diablo 3 players divided on 20th anniversary patch

Patch 2.4.3 out this week.

Diablo 3's long-awaited 20th anniversary patch goes live this week - and it's already got players talking.

For the month of January, a recreation of Diablo 1 can be played inside of Diablo 3. The Darkening of Tristram Event arrives with the release of Patch 2.4.3. Blizzard put out a video, below, to explain how to access the dungeon (it's through a portal in the town of Old Tristram) and what to expect from it. Through the portal you find a huge dungeon that's essentially all of Diablo 1 recreated with Diablo 3 assets. That's all 16 levels of the first game remade.

This retro dungeon comes complete with pixelated visuals, old-school animations and sound effects. The camera has moved. Everyone's locked to eight degrees of rotation. Your character walks everywhere. The sound is a little tinier and the sounds repeat more often - a classic mechanic of 90s PC games.

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Stars align for Diablo 4 reveal at BlizzCon

UPDATE: David Brevik says he's not working on Diablo.

UPDATE 5PM BST: There's been a development and it may not be the one you're hoping for. David Brevik has said he's not working on Diablo now or in the near future.

Blizzard story overlord Chris Metzen retires aged 42

"I won't lie - it's going to be really hard stepping away."

Chris Metzen is retiring. He's leaving Blizzard Entertainment after more than 20 years' service. He, the overseer of story at arguably the world's most successful game maker. He, the earring-wearing cool guy on the BlizzCon stage. He, the voice of Thrall. Retiring. And he's only 42.

Whopper of a Diablo 3 patch arriving very soon on PC and consoles

Whopper of a Diablo 3 patch arriving very soon on PC and consoles

Update: Rolling out now.

UPDATE 13TH JANUARY: The patch is rolling out now in Europe on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Full console patch notes and PC patch notes are available.

ORIGINAL STORY 8TH JANUARY: The expansion-like Diablo 3 patch, numbered 2.4, arrives simultaneously on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One before 15th January.

"The January 15th date is the start of the new season," said Diablo community official Brandy 'Nevalistis' Camel (in the comments) "We plan to release the patch prior to the start of [the new season].

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Big Diablo 3 patch adds new areas, adds special Set Dungeons

Big Diablo 3 patch adds new areas, adds special Set Dungeons

"Impale deals an additional 40,000% weapon damage to..."

I love that Blizzard still releases great fat patches for Diablo 3. With every one, the game gets crazier. And the freshly-detailed patch 2.4 - heading to the public testing server soon - is no exception. It's massive.

There's a whole new zone in 2.4 for Adventure mode only, which means it's not being shoehorned into the story. It's called Greyhallow Island and it's dark and mysterious and foresty, and wants to eat you; "the land itself is said to be hungry for blood", the game's website warned. Other areas have been expanded, again only in Adventure mode. You'll be able to go beyond the rubble in Leoric's Manor, and beyond the gates in the Ruins of Sescheron, into the Eternal Woods.

All - repeat, all - of the game's 24 sets of class armour (the ones with green writing) are being either revamped, revisited or revised. Thorns of the Invoker and the Shadow's Mantle are getting total overhauls. The six-piece Shadow's Mantle bonus is now, "Impale deals an additional 40,000 per cent weapon damage to the first enemy hit." That's enough to break a calculator!

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Diablo 3's big patch 2.3 goes live

Diablo 3's big patch 2.3 goes live

Kanai's Cube! Ruins of Sescheron! More!

Blizzard has released a big update for Diablo 3 that adds some cool new features to the game.

The headline addition for patch 2.3, which is available for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, is Kanai's Cube, a nod to Diablo 2's Horadric Cube. This lets you customise your character to an even greater degree. You'll find it in a new zone, called the Ruins of Sescheron. This is the Barbarian capital that fell to Baal in Diablo 2 expansion The Lord of Destruction.

Elsewhere, the patch sets up Season 4, which begins on 28th August. This adds Season Journeys, a new progression and reward system, as well as new difficulty levels. And there are important changes to the Adventure Mode, too, and Greater Rift Trials.

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Major new Diablo 3 patch introduces a very powerful item

Major new Diablo 3 patch introduces a very powerful item

Equip Legendary item effects as passive skills!

Blizzard has previewed a major new patch - 2.3.0 - for Diablo 3. This is "right around the corner" from the Public Test Realm apparently.

Broadly the patch continues the trend of allowing you to become even more powerful. Check out this new artifact, Kanai's Cube: it will allow you to break down Legendary items and equip their special effects as passive skills - separate to your other passive skills! It will also let you convert crafting materials from one type to another "and so much more".

You'll get that Cube, it sounds like, from the new zone arriving in the patch - Ruins of Sescheron. It's barbarian land, and the Kanai Cube is the Tomb of King Kanai's greatest treasure.

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Diablo 3 patch 2.2 out, turns Legendary items up to 11

Diablo 3 patch 2.2 out, turns Legendary items up to 11

And potions are now bottomless.

There's a really meaty new Diablo 3 patch out on PC and consoles (PS4 and Xbox One).

The main focus is adding new Legendary items as well as redesigning old ones. That includes class sets - and there are three new class sets (for wizard, barbarian, demon hunter) to collect.

Many items will have new Legendary powers, many others their powers drastically increased. One Monk set - Inna's Mantra - now has a six-pieces set bonus where your Mystic Ally clone now copies your special attacks whenever you perform them, effectively doubling them.

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Diablo 3 Patch 2.1.2 details announced at BlizzCon

Diablo 3 Patch 2.1.2 details announced at BlizzCon

Blizzard outlines its plans to improve Diablo 3's end-game.

Blizzard has announced a host of changes that will be made to Diablo 3 in the game's next major patch. The updates were revealed during the game's dedicated panel at the publisher's BlizzCon gathering in California.

Patch 2.1.2 addresses a number of issues identified since the launch of Patch 2.1 earlier this year, from a rebalancing of the Greater Rift system, to the addition of new creatures, weapons and armour.

Success in Greater Rifts is measured by the speed of completion, yet certain random elements can have a radical, random effect on your chances of success or failure. Conduit Pylons, which cause a character to temporarily fire devastating electrical damage around the scenery, often determine victory outright.

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Console Diablo 3 patch 2.1.0 "just around the corner"

Console Diablo 3 patch 2.1.0 "just around the corner"

UPDATE: It's live now.

UPDATE 8/10 11AM BST: Blizzard has said patch 2.1.0 is out now on PS4 and Xbox One.

Regarding PS3 and Xbox 360, Blizzard announced in August that there were "no plans ... to provide ongoing patch support for PS3 and Xbox 360 post-launch".

ORIGINAL STORY 7/10 5PM BST: There's a major patch for Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition, AKA the newer console game, "just around the corner", according to Blizzard.

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Diablo 3 download/install sizes are much higher on PS4

UPDATE: Blizzard confirms a single-language install only occupies 16GB.

UPDATE 2 13/08/2014 4.24pm: Blizzard has confirmed the inaccuracy of the Sony listing to Eurogamer and provided us with file sizes for the European PlayStation Store version of Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition on PS4. An installation of the game with audio in a single language will only occupy around 16GB of space.

How to transfer Diablo 3 saves to Ultimate Evil Edition

From old-gen to new-gen, and across brands too.

If you played the already-released Diablo 3 game on PS3 or Xbox 360 then good news: you can transfer your characters' progress into the new game - Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition - when it comes out later this month (19th).

Diablo 3 on PlayStation has a The Last of Us-themed dungeon

UPDATE: And Shadow of the Colossus transmogrify armour.

UPDATE: In addition to The Last of Us-themed Nephalem Rift, buyers of The Ultimate Evil Edition of Diablo 3 on PS3 and PS4 will get another treat: a Shadow of the Colossus-themed transmogrification set called Guise of the Colossi.

Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition dated, confirmed for old and new consoles

Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition dated, confirmed for old and new consoles

Supports character transfers from older console game.

Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition - Diablo 3 plus Reaper of Souls expansion - has been confirmed for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and, as we knew, PS4.

It's coming out 19th August - a Tuesday (that's a worldwide date by the way).

Crucially, you will be able to transfer your PS3 or Xbox 360 Diablo 3 character into the new game to carry on your adventure. What's more, you can choose to transfer to PS4 from PS3, and to Xbox One from Xbox 360.

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Diablo 3 sales hit 15m as WOW subs rise

Diablo 3 sales hit 15m as WOW subs rise

Activision reckons Destiny will be the "best-selling new video game IP in history".

Sales of action role-playing game Diablo 3 have now reached 15m, Activision Blizzard has announced.

The impressive figure, which came as part of the company's latest financial report, include sales of versions across all platforms. Activision Blizzard chief Bobby Kotick said it bodes well for the upcoming launch of expansion pack Reaper of Souls in March.

In other good news for Blizzard, World of Warcraft ended the year with 7.8m subscribers, a slight increase on the last reported figure. Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime put this down to excitement generated by BlizzCon (more than 4.5m people tuned in), Christmas and new promotions designed to get lapsed players back into the game.

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Why Blizzard won't add controller support to PC Diablo 3

When is a control scheme more than just a control scheme?

There's been a great response from players of the console version of Diablo 3 - yours truly included - to the more immediate feel of its pad control scheme. This has naturally led the game's PC fanbase to ask if controller support could be patched into their version of the game.

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls PS4-exclusive features detailed

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls PS4-exclusive features detailed

Adds "Avenger Kills," lets you import PS3 characters.

The PS4 version of Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls will get a few new features in addition to its spruced up 1080p visuals (that allegedly run at 60 fps), touchpad support and shorter load times.

As reported by Polygon, perhaps the most exciting new addition to the PS4 version is something called "Avenger Kills," a feature in which certain monsters can kill a player, level up, hop into their friend's game, then try to kill them too.

These monsters will spawn during special events where the skies darken and an announcement will tell the player that "[Insert friend's name here]'s Bane" has arrived. If you manage to defeat your friend's killer, both you and your friend it most recently slayed will get a piece of loot. If the monster kills you, it will level up further and find a friend of yours to hunt. Think of it like a sentient, demonic chain letter. Blizzard is still deciding how to deal with Avenger monsters that get too powerful.

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Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls trailer details its features

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls trailer details its features

Kill bounties, unlock all waypoints, and enchant weapons.

A new trailer for Diablo 3's first major expansion, Reaper of Souls, shows off a number of the upcoming add-on's new features.

First up there's an Adventure Mode where players can hunt bounties for XP and hop into Nephalem Rifts where they must kill enemies until a Nephalem Rift Guardian appears. The DLC also unlocks all waypoints for quick bounty-hunting action.

There also new game systems such as enchanting, transmogrification, an updated Paragon system, and a new Artisan called the Mystic.

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Diablo 3's Auction House is closing in March

"It ultimately undermines Diablo's core gameplay."

Diablo 3's much derided Auction House - a system that enables players to purchase loot with either real world currency or in-game gold - will cease to exist after 18th March 2014.

Diablo 3's first expansion is Reaper of Souls

Diablo 3's first expansion is Reaper of Souls

New hero, new act, new endgame, new level cap, new loot.

Blizzard has announced Reaper of Souls, the first expansion for Diablo 3, at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.

Reaper of Souls introduces a new hero class, the Crusader melee fighter, as well as a new campaign act that pits you against the Angel of Death in the new setting of Westmarch.

The level cap is raised to 70, the game's loot drops have been rebalanced, and the endgame has been extensively revised, with the addition of randomised "Loot Run" dungeons.

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