Diablo 4 open beta and early access dated for March
Activision Blizzard has announced open beta and early access dates for Diablo 4, ahead of the game's full launch on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC this June.
Diablo 4's open beta and early access are split across two weekends, starting with early access from 17th to 19th March. This session is exclusive to players that pre-purchase Diablo 4, while the open beta — which runs from 24th to 26th March — will be available to everyone.
Blizzard says the two sessions will offers players a «deep look into the early game including the Prologue and the entirety of Act 1», and a level cap of 25 will be in place. More details are set to be shared during a developer livestream scheduled for 28th February.
The full, full-price game — which is already confirmed to feature the likes of a paid cosmetics store and live-service elements including a regular season pass — launches for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC on 6th June.
While Diablo 4's monetisation is likely to remain a contentious issue, Eurogamer's Robert Purchese felt the game did at least have a solid foundation when he explored a build last year, calling it a «generational difference between...the Diablo experiences that have come before».
Activision Blizzard, meanwhile, continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, with Blizzard president Mike Ybarra currently under fire for tone-deaf responses made during an «awful» company wide meeting that lead some employees to brand Blizzard leadership 'embarrassing' and «monumentally terrible». Elsewhere, Microsoft is preparing a «last-ditch» effort to save its $69bn Activision Blizzard deal as EU opposition mounts.
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