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Diablo 3

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=Timeline=

A very brief chronological history of important dates in the development of the next ''Diablo ''title. All events in this timeline are elaborated on elsewhere on this page.

* '''June 28, 2000'''. ''Diablo II ''released.* '''Late 2000'''. Preliminary work begins on ''Diablo III''.* '''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.)* '''June 11, 2003'''. Rick Seis named new head of Blizzard North. * '''September 22, 2003'''. [http://hellgate.incgamers.com/w/index.php/Flagship_Studios Flagship Studios founded] by Bill Roper, Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik. Joining them as co-founders are five other principles, Kenneth Williams, David Glenn, Peter Hu, Phil Shenk, and Tyler Thompson. All but David Glenn were working at Blizzard North before quitting to join Flagship.* '''April 27, 2005'''. (Unconfirmed.) Recording session for ''Diablo III ''soundtrack held in Bratislava, Slovakia, with the Slovak Radio Philharmonic. * '''August 1, 2005'''. Blizzard North closed, employees offered severance or a transfer to Blizzard's Irvine HQs. The one remaining ongoing project (universally presumed to be ''Diablo III'') put on hold pending a thorough review. (Almost all of the work done by Blizzard North is eventually tossed and development is essentially begun from scratch by a new team at Blizzard Irvine.)* '''October 28, 2005'''. Massive rumors about ''Diablo III'' leak from Chris Hartgraves, an ex-Blizzard employee.* '''September 6, 2005'''. Rick Seis, head of Blizzard North, evidently unhappy with plans for the continued development of ''Diablo III ''at Blizzard Irvine, leaves the company and joins numerous other ex-Blizzard North/Diablo team members at Castaway Entertainment.* '''October 26, 2006'''. Richard Knaak, author of several of the Diablo Novels, states that he is not writing books "for a dead game."* '''July 13, 2007'''. Frank Pearce, senior vice president of product development at Blizzard, comments on the unannounced project. "Team 3 is working on something really awesome. I can’t give you any hints, but it’s totally awesome."* '''2004-2008'''. Numerous Blizzard job openings offer positions on, "the team that designed ''Diablo ''and ''Diablo II''."

=The Rumor Mill=

Aside from numerous small rumors about Diablo III, most of them clearly speculative and hopeful predictions about impending announcement/release dates, there have been a few major rumors, the accuracy of which remains to be determined.

==Early Work Trashed==

[[Image:D3-fakebox02.jpg|thumb|More fake box art.]]It's known and confirmed through private channels (though not officially by Blizzard) that the version of Diablo III the Diablo II team had been working at Blizzard North was dumped and the game's development was essentially began anew, from scratch, in late 2003 after Blizzard North was shut down. Why the new Diablo III team didn't continue on with the initial version of the game is unknown; the new team might have wanted to do their own game, the original version might have been too similar to what WoW became, or too similar to what Diablo II was, or it might not have been very good. That's what Brian Crecente reported [[#References|2]] on Kotaku on August 8, 2005:

==Diablo 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 [[#References|1]] on October 28, 2005, Chris was quoted saying the following about ''Diablo III'':

=Blizzard North Upheavals=

[[Image:D3-fakebox03.jpg|thumb|250px|Nicely done fake D3 case.]]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 since they felt they could produce better in their home location, rather than down in Irvine with the rest of Blizzard. The studio wasn't a vanity company for the Diablo team, but they remained in the Bay Area and semi-autonomous on the strength of their work, seniority, and clout. When the company's founders left in 2003, that independence was on a death watch.

==The Big Four Depart==

The years of happy existence at Blizzard North came to a sudden end when "the big four," Blizzard North founders David Brevik, Max Schaefer, and Erich Schaefer, along with Bill Roper, departed in late June, 2003. The first word came in a somewhat [http://www.diabloii.net/pressdesk/030630.php June 30, 2003 shocked press release] from Blizzard that morning. A [http://www.diabloii.net/pressdesk/030630b.php more official announcement] came later that day, as the big four cleaned out their offices and a media circus kicked into high gear.

==Why The Big Four Quit==

[[Image:D3-fakebox04.jpg|thumb|250px|Tyrael on mock box art.]]The basic reason the Big Four gave for quitting has remained constant throughout the [http://hellgate.incgamers.com/w/index.php/Hellgate_Archive#Interviews:_Founding_Flagship.2C_Pre-HGL dozens of interviews] they gave in the months after the split. Here's what Bill Roper said about it in late 2003[[#References|7]].

==Blizzard North Shut Down==

August 1, 2005. [[#References|5]] Gamespot:

<blockquote>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.

=Blizzard Job Openings=

[[Image:D3-fakebox05.jpg|thumb|250px|Real D2 artwork, fake D3 box.]]Over the years there have been numerous job openings posted on Blizzard's Jobs Page that strongly hint at a connection to Diablo III. One was so obvious it made Gamespot's Rumor Control page[[#References|6]] on February 11, 2005.

Possible conclusions:

* The Diablo series game is not an MMO.** The Diablo game can't be that close to completion, not with 5 key design job openings, including Lead 3D Level Designer, Senior 3D Level Designer, Senior Game Designer, 3D Level Designer, and Associate 3D Level Designer.* Blizzard is working on a next gen MMO, and it's very early in the process, since all they're hiring are artists and not level designers.* The Diablo game is a next gen MMO, and Blizzard is being careful not to mention both in the same job opening since that might tip their hand.

=Key Events=

[[Image:D3-fakebox06.jpg|thumb|250px|The work of some anonymous prankster.]]Other important facts relating to Diablo III's development, in chronological order. Many of the items in the above timeline are elaborated on here.

==2000: Work Begins on Diablo III==

Work began on a third title in the Diablo series shortly after Diablo II was completed, in June 2000. This fact was alluded to in various interviews and comments by the D2 team, and more obviously in various biographies. For instance, when the Blizzard North exodus began in mid-2003, several key members of the Diablo II team formed Castaway Entertainment. One of the founders, Stefen Scandizzo, said the following [http://castawayentertainment.com/about.html in his company bio], with an underline for emphasis.

==2005: Blizzard Centralizes Operations==

On August 1, 2005, shortly after shuttering Blizzard North, Blizzard issued a press release hyping the event.

==2005: Rick Seis Bails Out==

Rick Seis was named the new head of Blizzard North and project lead on their unannounced project in July 2003, shortly after the turmoil kicked off by the departures of the "big four." Rick remained with Blizzard North until the offices were closed and work on '''Diablo III'' was halted in mid-2005. He left Blizzard rather than move down to Irvine, and joined over a dozen other ex-Blizzard North employees [http://castawayentertainment.com/news.html at Castaway Entertainment].

==2005: More Blizzard North Departures==

Many other long time Diablo team members left the company in the wake of Blizzard North's closure. Most joined Flagship Studios or Castaway Entertainment, but a few others struck out on their own. Eric Sexton, Michio Okamura, and Steven Woo [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:Is-Xf09jwv4J:www.hyboreal.com/press/112805.pdf+hyboreal+games+Michio+Okamura&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a formed Hyboreal Games]:

San Carlos, CA (10/31/2005) – Hyboreal Games announced today its formation as a new development studio dedicated to creating blockbuster video and computer games. The company is establishing a new best-selling game franchise by applying the proven formula of mass accessibility, addictive game play and longevity through re-playability. Hyboreal Games was founded by Eric Sexton, Michio Okamura and Steven Woo, all industry veterans and former developers for Blizzard North where their contributions were essential to the success of the highly acclaimed Diablo franchise which has sold well over 13 million copies worldwide.

</blockquote>

==2005: ''Diablo III ''Soundtrack Recorded?==

On April 27, 2005, a musician from the Czech Republic mailed fansite Diabloii.net to report that he'd recently been [http://www.diabloii.net/newsupdates/archive/arc9.php involved in a recording session] for the Diablo III music.

==2005: D3 at Blizzcon Rumors==

Wild rumors about the supposed content of Diablo III leak out shortly before the first Blizzcon in October 2005. See [[#Diablo_III_Takes_Place_in_Heaven|the Rumor Mill section of this page]] for full details. As of April 2008 These rumors remain unconfirmed and undenied. The source of the rumors was correct about some details of ''World of Warcraft ''and ''Starcraft II'', but also claimed that ''Diablo III'' would debut at Blizzcon in 2005; a prediction that is now 2.5 years off. And counting.

==2006: Diablo III Team Job Openings==

February 2, 2006. Blizzard's jobs page has so many positions to join the Diablo team that [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6143594.html Gamespot runs a rumor report] on the likelihood of ''Diablo III'' being underway. See the [[#Blizzard_Job_Openings|Blizzard Job Openings]] section of this page for more details.

==2006: Blizzard Working on Multiple Games for Multiple Platforms==

==2006: All Future Blizzard Games to be MMOs?==

June 14, 2006. Confusion briefly reigned after after media coverage of a Vivendi Games presentation reported that all future Blizzard games would be MMOs, thanks to the massive success of wow. Official refutation came via Blizzard's forums.

I believe this was a misquote. We haven't announced any specific development plans beyond the upcoming expansion for ''World of Warcraft'', and we don't have any intentions to focus on only one genre or platform with our future games.

</blockquote>

==2006: Diablo Novelist Drops Hints==

October 26, 2006. Fansite BlizzPlanet [http://www.blizzplanet.com/content/601/ posted an interview] with [[Richard Knaak]], author of some of the [[Diablo novels]], in which he dropped some pretty unequivocal hints that work continued on the Diablo seris.

'''Knaak:''' I am not writing for a dead world ... but a world with dead. 'nuff said!</blockquote>

==2007: Flagship Studios Community Day==

Flagship Studios held their first community day event on May 17, 2007. ''Hellgate: London'' information was covered by an NDA, but Diablo II discussions were not, and hellgate.incgamers.com and diabloii.net contributor Flux attended the event (and visited Flagship Studios several [http://hellgate.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2310&cat=513 other times] during 2006-2007) and [http://hellgate.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2312&cat=513 caught up] with [http://hellgate.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=2311&cat=513 numerous] Blizzard North [http://hellgate.incgamers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1646&si=community-day-2007 founders] and employees he'd known since he started covering ''Diablo II ''back in 1998. Exact details of what they'd left behind when they departed from Blizzard North were off the record, but Flux was assured by several Blizzard North employees that a good amount of work had been done on ''Diablo III'' by the time the big four departed in June 2003, and that the project had been kicked back almost to the drawing board once nearly the entire Diablo II team left the company after Blizzard North was closed in 2005.

==2007: Third Ongoing Project Confirmed==

On July 13, 2007, Blizzard VP of Product Development Frank Pearce spoke to Gamasutra about the company's third team and their unannounced project.[[#References|9]]

==2007: Diablo Franchise will be continued==

In a video interview with IGN posted on August 5, 2007, Blizzard VP of Business Operations Paul Sams spoke about the future of their various gaming franchises, including Diablo:[[#References|10]]

=Domain Names and Trademarks=

Blizzard Entertainment owns numerous trademarks and domain names for games in their empire. These do not necessarily mean anything, especially not in the short term; they bought Starcraft2.com before Starcraft was even released. But they do give some indication that the company has an ongoing interest in developing more games in their various game worlds.

==Domain Names==

A partial and growing list of Blizzard/Vivendi owned domain names and the dates they were registered.

* Diablo2.fr* Diablo3.eu* Diablo3.es* Diablo3.de* Diablo3.fr* Diablo4.fr* Diablo3.asia* Diabloiii.es* Diabloiii.asia* Diablo3.com

==Trademarks==

'''Diablo II: Salvation''' was a title Blizzard registered in 2000, as a title for a movie or video game. [http://diabloii.net/news/archivenews/archive1/arc9.shtml In 2001] Blizzard instigated legal action to force New Line Cinema to change the name of their upcoming Vin Diesel-staring action film from ''El Diablo.'' Blizzard was ultimately victorious in the suit, and the film's title changed to [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266465/ ''A Man Apart''].

10. http://blizzplanet.com/news/1592/

[[~~category~~Category:Diablo 3]]

Jandorde

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