‘Diablo 3’ To Launch In Early 2012; Scrap My Winter Break Plans.

Diablo 3. I’ve accepted that it’s really real, a fact that sends a twinge up my balls. In a glorious way. However, I got greedy. Began thinking it may come out this year. Blizzard has confirmed that it won’t, and I cry a single tear.

Joystiq:

“While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful thatDiablo III  would ship this year,”  writes  Blizzard president Mike Morhaime. “We were too.”

This means, for a brief period in time, Diablo’s fans and creators were united in convincing themselves that a Blizzard game might come out on time. Neither party had  fully committed  to an official release date, however, and the Irvine, California-based developer had only said that it was “aiming to launch by the end of 2011.” Luckily, the only thing more steadfast than Blizzard’s lengthy development times is its proclaimed commitment to quality.

“Ultimately, we feel that to deliver an awesome Diablo sequel that lives up to our expectations and yours as well,” Morhaime said, “we should take a little more time and add further polish to a few different elements of the game.” To aid the extended endeavor,  Diablo 3‘s beta will run longer and accomodate more invitees.

If your gaming tastes incorporate more than highly anticipated role-playing games, you’ll likely find some relief in this delay. Now there’s more time for Batman, Drake, Ezio, two kinds of modern warfare,  Skyrim  and — wait, there’s still not enough time, is there?