The Diablo 4 open beta will have long queue times at launch too, Blizzard warns

pcgamer.com:

Last weekend's Diablo 4(opens in new tab) early access beta got off to a rough start. Servers were immediately slammed, which meant long waits for anyone trying to get in, and unstable connections for everyone who did. We were all shocked(opens in new tab).

The situation had mostly smoothed out by Saturday, and Blizzard's Rod Fergusson said that in the big picture, the bumps in the road were a good thing because they helped Blizzard hammer out Diablo 4's issues(opens in new tab) well ahead of launch. «This weekend was to prepare for next weekend, and next weekend prepares for launch,» he said.

But with the open beta set to kick off tomorrow, Blizzard is warning that eager players can expect more of the same. The early access beta was limited to people who had preordered Diablo 4, along with some promotional invitations; the open beta is, well, open, and it's fair to assume that a lot more people will be crashing through the door.

«When we open the gates again this Friday to absolutely everyone, we are expecting a lot of people,» Diablo global community development director Adam Fletcher wrote in the Blizzard forums(opens in new tab). «There will be lengthy queue times, particularly on Friday when we first launch and during peak regional windows. This past weekend helped us to forecast the capacity we expect this weekend, and we will be using that capacity to intentionally stress our systems in preparation for launch.

»In summary, while we know it can be frustrating, we need queues to properly stress test our services and we are designing to ensure we have them some of the time."

Just a reminder that we are expecting an immense amount of players this weekend and we expect queues and a few bumps along the road.This is why