It Appears That You Might Be Getting Diablo III Sooner Than Expected
Jan 07, 2012 at 8:13 PM - -
40 Comments
Earlier today there was some gossip going about on how BestBuy.com changed the release dates shown on their Diablo 3 product pages to February 1st, 2012. Then there were reports that a Best Buy store put up a promotional end cap for Diablo III with a digital countdown timer leading to February 1st.
Well, the guys at Joystiq received a copy of the very same picture that was posted on the Diablo III forums, and verified via a phone call to a Rochester, Minnesota Best Buy store that the Diablo 3 promotional display does indeed exist. The Best Buy employee that spoke with Joystiq also confirmed that their store would be doing a midnight launch for Diablo III on February 1st, 2012.
We decided to reach out to a store off of Geary Blvd in San Francisco, CA, and spoke with a video games department sales rep that confirmed that the store systems had been updated with a February 1st, 2012 release date for Diablo III. Unfortunately however promotional materials like the one captured in the photo spreading about the internet had not been put up yet according to the employee.
Current listings on the Best Buy website for both the standard and collector's edition of Diablo III now reflect the February 1st release date. On the other side of the pond Gameplay now lists a February 3rd release date for UK customers. Considering the date changes on the Diablo III product pages at major retailers in both the US and UK, along with the photo and confirmation on the promotional end cap at the Minnesota Best Buy, it's looking like a February release date is quite possible.
We've sent a note off to our contacts at Blizzard, and will update this post once we hear something more official.
Update: Target.com lists a February 7th release date.
Update #2: Diablo 3 Community Manager Micah "Bashiok" Whipple sent out a Tweet about the situation, stating "We can't really keep every individual retail shop from making up a date."
Update #3: Best Buy has issued the following statement: "Unfortunately, an incorrect date was displayed on signage for the highly anticipated game Diablo 3. While customers can pre-order the game, the release date has not officially been announced from Activision/Blizzard. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and are taking steps to correct the information."
A few months yet then.
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THIS IS MARKETING TRICK designed to make you think the following: "Since game comens out sooner it is very likely that I will not die before release therefore I will preorder it". Subliminal message: "Game comes out soon, you must be 1st one to have it; preorder!!!"
Register today, it's free!
This happens with every Blizzard game; the Internet farts sideways for a week, and then it's all proven wrong again. I'd have thought you people would have learned by now.