Currently, Diablo 4's release date has been set in June 6th. In addition, Blizzard also announced that it would conduct open testing in the future. Now, you can't find anywhere to sign up. However, if you want to get an early access to the game, you can pre-order it. In response, the game's producers have said that it may be available soon.
Earlier, on Twitter, Diablo 4 producer Rod Fergusson said that the open beta start date will be announced to you soon. He said, "If at some point in the game this month, we're going to show up. Then someone might announce something to you at that time..." and this may refer to IGN's Fan Fest 2023 stream later this month.
Diablo 4 is a featured game, and IGN has listed it during one of its streams on February 17 and 18. In response, neither Diablo nor Blizzard's social media accounts indicated that an announcement was expected this month. Considering Diablo 4's upcoming release date and what Rod Fergusson said, whether at IGN's event or otherwise, it seems like a good time to drop the date.
Currently, Diablo 4 has passed both Blizzard's "friends and family" alpha test and another broader playtest. However, both tests leaked several minutes of footage. In September of last year, Diablo also invited Diablo diehards for the endgame beta test.
Last year, I experienced the first area of the game. What can be confirmed is that, both in terms of appearance and game experience, it is very similar to Diablo. In fact, there is no difference between the open world structure and Diablo 3. However, Blizzard said that there is a difference between the two. That is, later you can traverse its large map, and then choose to play in the area you are interested in. I played an old build probably, because in the snowy Fractured Peaks zone, the preview build was locked to that zone. Besides that, while demon slaying still felt good, the in-game quests and dialogues were not finished, and the final assets were replaced with text-to-speech sounds and placeholder text. From this point of view, the completion of the old build is not very high. So, I think the open beta should be more complete.
If I compare Diablo 3 and Diablo 4, I find that Diablo 4 is more like an online service game. You'll only be able to play online, and in open world events you'll also be able to invite other players to help you. Although Diablo 4 is a paid game, it will include a battle pass, which is tied to its endgame seasonal content. And this will start after the game is released. And these contents require a lot of game testing to be correct.
It's not uncommon for Blizzard to run many beta of a game before actually releasing it. Take these two games, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight and Overwatch 2. Blizzard always lets you test games near the end of their release. In the next two months, if the open beta of Diablo 4 is able to start, then you will have enough time to learn about its contents and prepare for its release. After all, no one wants to go through the error 37 situation again.
