July 23, 2022 – Added comment from Rod Fergusson.
The Diablo 4 beta has been added to Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher, as spotted by some rather eagle-eyed users. While it isn’t currently visible on the launcher’s front-end, new data in the catalogue configuration files shows that a beta test for the RPG game is being prepared to be surfaced on the launcher.
This isn’t the first time that Diablo 4 has appeared in the Battle.net launcher’s catalogue files, as there are already multiple references to ‘Fenris’ – the codename that Blizzard confirmed it had been using internally for the project in 2018. Some of these are also tied to Diablo 3. However, Wowhead confirms that this new data shows that the beta itself has now been added.
This latest news suggests that players might be able to get their hands on the Diablo 4 beta in the near future – although it’s quite likely that the initial rollout will be fairly limited. Typically, Blizzard tends to restrict its first rounds of testing to ‘friends and family,’ before moving to wider-reaching closed beta and then open beta tests.
It’s also worth noting that fans who have been getting themselves a free Diablo 4 tattoo as part of the game’s promotional Hell’s Ink tour are receiving cards saying that they have been granted access to “an upcoming beta for Diablo IV” along with a digital copy of the game upon release. This certainly corroborates the notion that a beta could be coming sooner rather than later- at least for those lucky enough to be chosen to participate.
Update – July 23: Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson has confirmed on Twitter that the current beta showing up on the launcher is intended for internal only testing. He adds, “Sorry! We will have more public testing in the future as we continue down the path to shipping in 2023!”
The Diablo 4 release date might still be a way off, but we already know plenty of details about the multiplayer game, such as the level cap and campaign length, as well as the classes returning to Diablo 4 that you’ll be able to play as. Hopefully all of them will be available in the beta as well, whenever it does appear.
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