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=Timeline=
A very brief chronological history of important dates in the development of the sequel to Diablo II. All events in this timeline are elaborated on elsewhere on this page.
* '''June 28, 2000'''. Diablo II released.
* '''June 29, 2001'''. Diablo II Expansion released.
* '''May 28, 2003'''. The "Big Four" resign from Blizzard North. (Bill Roper, plus Blizzard North company founders Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik.)
Flagship Studios founded by Bill Roper, Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik. Joining them as co-founders are six other principles
* '''June 11, 2003'''. Rick Seis named new head of Blizzard North.
?? 2nd bliz north project shelved indefinitely.
* '''August 1, 2005'''. Blizzard North officially closed, employees offered severance or a transfer to Blizzard's Irvine HQs. The one remaining ongoing project (widely presumed to be Diablo III) put on hold pending a thorough review.
</blockquote>
==Chris HartgravesDiablo III Takes Place in Heaven==
The next big rumor about ''Diablo III'' turned up about a year later. As the tale goes, a Blizzard employee named Chris Hartgraves left the company in late 2005, and promptly spilled all he knew about ongoing projects at Blizzard. In an email posted on a World of Warcraft fansite forum<sup> [[#References|1]]</sup> on October 28, 2005, Chris was quoted saying the following about ''Diablo III'':
It is about Diablo 3. Last week they had a thing called "Show N Tell" which they have every 6 months to all the full time employees - Anyways Diablo 3 takes place in heaven. Hell is trying to take it over and it is AWESOME looking ... I magine the brightness of heaven being taken over by the darkness of hell ... Imagine WoW but in a Diablo world in amount of size and playability ... Also, guild housing is available in this game for those of you who know about it. They should have a gameplay demo to show at BlizzCon.
</blockquote>
There was no way to confirm this account of ''Diablo III'', since, contrary to Hartgraves' prediction, the game did not debut at the 2005 [[BlizCon]], and still hasn't made an appearance, more than 2.5 years later. That it might debut as early as 2005 was highly unlikely, since it was known (though not publicly) that That doesn't do much to argue for Hartgraves' claims, and they would be forgotten by now if not for the fact that he also said ''Starcraft II'' was under production long before it was officially announced. He also made several predictions about ''World of Warcraft'' in the same email, and most of them turned out to be accurate.
Hartgraves' Diablo III comments were echoed, or backed up, by a pointless obscure post<sup>[[References|3]]</sup> GamingSteve.com, on February 3, 2006.
The core gameplay Beelzebub 3 will play pretty much like Beelzebub 1 and 2, but the game world will be much larger and provide a much deeper experience -- many more items, more levels when you go through the game for first time, more skills, more of everything. In addition, the multiplayer aspect will be greatly enhanced from the past installments and don't be surprised to see more than a couple of WoW-based concepts to leak over into the Beelzebub 3 universe ... such as two opposing factions (Alliance and Horde = Heaven and Hell), enhanced guild functionality, and maybe even mounts?!
</blockquote>
Like the leak from Hartgraves, there's no confirmation of this yet, and it's been more than two years since it was posted. The plot concept, of playing the game being set in the Heavens, is only logical. After all, players descended into the Hells in Act Four of Diablo II, and the game world's mythology features numerous battles between the Angels and the Demons, along with and there's constant interference/assistance from the archangel Tyrael. Most of the other predictions are pretty common sense too; of course the game is fully in 3D, and of course there will be expanded online play, guild housing, faction warfare, and so forth. Those features are all but mandatory in an online RPG these days.
=Blizzard North Upheavals= Blizzard North was founded by the creators of the Diablo series, and they were allowed to remain at their own location in the Bay Area, despite the greater expenses this entailed, since the studio worked better as a semi-autonomous entity, and the guys running Blizzard North preferred the Bay Area and had the clout to call their own shots. ==The Big Four Leave Blizzard NorthQuit== The happy existence was rocked in late June, 2003, when the big four departed.
First somewhat shocked. PR from Blizzard about the departures. [http://www.diabloii.net/pressdesk/030630.php June 30, 2003].
Blizzard does not believe that these resignations will cause any significant delays or have long-term negative effects on the "Diablo®" series or other projects in development.</blockquote>
The last line was patently ridiculous, since both projects underway at Blizzard North were frozen shortly after this announcement, then essentially canceled when Blizzard North was closed down in late 20032005, at which time almost all the remaining Diablo team (most of whom had already quit) left the company. ==Blizzard North Shut Down== August 1, 2005. <sup>[[#References|5]] The team behind the enormously popular Diablo franchise--most recently known as Blizzard North, the Bay Area outpost of Irvine, Calif-based Blizzard Entertainment--has been officially shuttered. Arguably, the office was moribund for months, those with ties to the Diablo franchise having departed months or even years ago to form studios of their own. In a statement today, Blizzard president and founder Mike Morhaime said the relocation will "improve our efficiency as a company" and "represents an opportunity for all of our teams to have regular, direct input on each other's projects." Those from Blizzard North who were offered relocation packages "will continue work on an unannounced project," which most believe is the third installment in the hugely popular Diablo series.
=Blizzard Job Openings=
5. [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6130138.html http://www.gamespot.com/news/6130138.html]
[[category:diablo3]]
