Diablo III beta box art shows we may be close to a release

Diablo is one of those iconic video games that just about any gamer has played at one time or another since the first version of the game was released back in 1996 and ever since the release of Diablo II in 2000 fans have been waiting for the next version to show its face.

While it may not have reached the mythical almost vaporware status that Duke Nukem did it is fair to say that due to the lack of anything from Blizzard about a release for Diablo III many fans were losing faith that it would indeed be released.

Well those fans can rest easy as it seems that Blizzard has released some new box art for Diablo III beta and according to Matthew Lynley at VentureBeat it seems that Blizzard is planning for a press tour in August

Blizzard Entertainment chief executive Mike Morhaime also said the company was targeting the third quarter this year for an external Diablo 3 beta, which falls between July 1 and September 30, on the company’s most recent earnings conference call. The company is also apparently planning a press tour for the game in August. The last time the company scheduled a press briefing so close to an expected release date for a game was just before the company announced the beta of the third expansion pack for World of Warcraft, called Cataclysm.

Morhaime said the company was targeting a fourth-quarter release for the game, but did not give an official release date on the company’s most recent earnings call.

As someone who enjoyed playing Diablo II, a lot, I’m holding my breath hoping this isn’t just another false promise.