Joystiq are reporting a number of big retailers in the US have updated their release schedules with this year's potentially biggest release, StarCraft II, hitting store shelves on December 3rd.

Best Buy, Circuit City and Gamestop all have the game listed as releasing on the date, which would put it in prime position for holiday spending, though nothing has officially come from the powers that be at Blizz HQ.

Blizzard are holding their annual e-Games event in Paris this coming weekend, the first time the event has been held outside of Korea, and have promised to show off a stack of new stuff surrounding the game. We'll be on standby, updating as any new vids, screens or details become
available, so keep an eye on the site and your RSS feeds for all Zerg related information.

You can have a look at what we currently have StarCraft 2 wise on our game page.

I know it's sad, but I would take the day off work to play this game.

The only game you will be able to play and become a millionaire... (other than sc1).

I guess the days where Blizzard said "It's done when it's done" are over. Instead it'll be out for the Christmas holidays, ready or not.

I guess the days where Blizzard said "It's done when it's done" are over. Instead it'll be out for the Christmas holidays, ready or not.

Blizzard's quality reputation is pretty important to the company. For a lot of their fans they are the only team who produce games that are bought in advance and without reading reviews.

They've come a long way though and have made Vivendi a silly amount of money from WoW. If it is announced I hope think its more a case of being able to make firmer deadlines because of the stupendous amounts of money they have now.

last edited by Hogfather at 17:32:55 23/Jun/08

It's Blizzard. A cold, wet snow-filled day in hell in ensure before they release a product that fails to meet expectations. That said, I'd be curious if they'll do something like release SC2 so close to when the 2nd WoW expansion pack is rumoured to be coming out (Sept-Nov, depending on which rumour you beleive).

I wouldn't give this news any merit. If SC2 is not ready, it won't be out. Even if Blizzard have slated a December release date, I wouldn't count on it.

Nice, definatly going to have to upgrade my PC in december now.

SC2 eh,
Is it eye candy for starcraft or has the game evolved beyond that?

New units, updated mechanics, continuation of story. Based on gameplay videos, it looks like a worthy sequel that differs enough from the original to be a good sequel, but stays true tot he original.

I guess the days where Blizzard said "It's done when it's done" are over. Instead it'll be out for the Christmas holidays, ready or not.

Why do you think they're pushing to release it early? Maybe they're delaying the release to hit Christmas sales.

http://www.blizzard.com has a new splash screen. It might be nothing beyond a lead-up to the WWI this weekend, but you just never know...

Since when have retail outlets set the release date for games? Its like I was in EB the other day and the EB person told me, with great authority, that the WoW expansion would be out in November. He then went on to tell me that he has no idea when Fallout 3 will be out, even though its had a release window of Fall 2008 since it was first announced. So I guess I'm dubious of magic release dates that retailers spew out.

Would be nice to have this in december but would prefer it to be as close to bug-free as possible first, so i'd prefer to wait a few more months if need be.

haha if you go to the diablo3 fansite they are all going nuts saying that the new splash screen looks as tho its hell frozen over and very satanic, and are all praying that its a diablo3 announcement.

very unlikely imo, blizzard wouldnt want to detract attention from sc2. but im fingers crossed for d3 in the future anyway.

There will be a D3 i expect/guess sometime in 10. No way they will let that series die without milking it at least 1 more time. And while i'm sure blizzard would want as much attention as possible toward starcraft 2's release, I doubt it would need it and still becoming hugely popular. I feel sorry for any other game coming out around that time. I expect it will be about the same as when halo 2 and 3 were released and people went ape s***.

haha if you go to the diablo3 fansite they are all going nuts saying that the new splash screen looks as tho its hell frozen over and very satanic, and are all praying that its a diablo3 announcement.

I just assumed it was for Wrath of the Lich King, since ice and frozen stuff is a large part of it. All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.

last edited by Khel at 01:57:37 24/Jun/08

wow and starcraft suck ... bring back diablo!

couldn't give a s*** about starcraft, never even played it was big before i got into gaming and computers

bring on D3

I doubt Diablo 3 will eventuate...at least in it's previous incarnation. It's no secret that Blizz have three current projects - WotLK, StarCraft 2 and an unnamed MMORPG.

World of Diablo?

Lost Vikings FTW

I think Penny-Arcade put it best in one of their old comics: When you're known for 3 things and two of those are already out..." (or announced)

Diablo 3's a definite, just a matter of when & in what format we'll see it.

I just assumed it was for Wrath of the Lich King, since ice and frozen stuff is a large part of it. All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/06/blizzard_teaser_solved_not_sure_but_dont_get_your_hopes_up_diablo_fans.html

Khel called it!

meh kotaku is jsut making another guess.

Seems strange that they'd tease something that's already announced.

http://www.worldofwar.net/gallery/data/500/Sword.jpg

Could be they're ready to announce the release date, hence the teasing. Blizzard do actually date things from time to time you know ;)

Yes Khel, I wasn't denying that it's for WotLK, just saying that it's weird that they'd tease a game/expansion that is by no means a secret. I suppose it could be a release date.

There will be no niggaz at work in Sth Korea that day. I know that for sure.

doubt their will be a d3 remember hgl. they made that instead didn't they???

from Kotaku about the whole Diablo 3 images thing.

"A second image has been added on the icy splash site, adding to speculation that Blizzard is going to announce Diablo III this weekend. Previously, the frosty teaser showed an image that looked a hell of a lot like a rune on Frostmourne, previously feature in Wrath of the Lich King teasers. That was kind of a Diablo III killjoy! Now, there's further speculation that the first image might be the "Shael" rune from Diablo II instead of being Frostmourne. And some folks are now saying that the second and new image looks like a duplicate of a "Hel" Diablo II rune."

So who knows. It could be a cheap way to plug their WoW expansion or they may very well announce D3 sometime. And hey, who said their new MMO isn't something like World of Diablo? I would so play that...

I don't plan to ever play a game I have to pay for over and over again, and I was always more fond of Warcraft than Diablo, but to be honest a World of Diablo type thing sounds a hell (haha pun) of a lot more fun than World of Warcraft does.

just to feed a bit more diablo3 rumours, apparently the diablo3.com domain has been recently bought off a fansite by blizzard.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53312

they claim it confirms that d3 announcement is imminent, possibly at the blizzard invitational in paris this weekend.

im not getting my hopes up

Hahah lazy art department... open both of these in seperate tabs and then flip between them

http://seattle.gametent.com/diablofans//wwi-2008/day4-ice4.jpg

http://xs228.xs.to/xs228/08264/ice4_diablo2849.jpg

It could be anything, theres WoW related stuff in that picture, theres diablo related stuff in that picture, theres even Starcraft related stuff in that picture, so who knows.

And the latest attempt to figure out what the announcement will be :

Battle.Net Has Diablo III General Discussion Forum Up... A Bit Early

And for those that want a direct link -> http://battle.net/forums/thread-search.aspx?ForumName=d3-general

It's pretty obvious that it's the announcement of their new game: World of Starwariablo... craft... 3.

It's World of Warcraft for sure. Those two eyes in the middle are going to reveal the Lich King's (or Arthus') helmet/face armor. You have to remember that the Lich King's eyes glow icy blue.

Fourth version is up now, still looking very lich king.

And the latest attempt to figure out what the announcement will be : Battle.Net Has Diablo III General Discussion Forum Up... A Bit Early And for those that want a direct link -> http://battle.net/forums/thread-search.aspx?ForumName=d3-general

raisty that doesnt show anything mate, look i can make a diablo 6 thread

http://battle.net/forums/thread-search.aspx?ForumName=d6-general

as annoying as it is, it does look like its gonna just be about wow:wotlk

It seems kind of anti-climatic to me if the whole thing ends up being the new wow expansion. yes we know the expansion is coming... that is nothing new. was this all really nessiscary if it indeed turns out to be WoTLK related? Then again it could be warcraft 4 lol. who knows with blizzard. Either way it no doubt has fanboys ready to explode at any moment when the full picture is released

hmm with some reading around, seems like blizzard have said somewhere that it is to release a new game. not for sc2 or wow:wotlk.

so on that train of thought, can only really be:
diablo3
warcraft4
diabloMMO
starcraftMMO
new title

if blizzard are just playing us, i guess the picture could turn red and reveal a picture of diablo in the last picture. fingers crossed i guess.