IGN Presents: The Big Games of 2012

Diablo III - Barbarian Spotlight

Diablo III - Monk Spotlight

“Soon” Was Too Soon -- Diablo III to Arrive in Early 2012

by Mike Morhaime

We commonly use the term “soon” when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we’re working to reach a target, we’re not going to compromise and launch a game before it’s ready. For Diablo III, we were aiming to launch by the end of 2011. As we’re announcing globally today, our new target for the game is early 2012.

While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful that Diablo III would ship this year. We were too. However, this week we pulled together people from all of the teams involved with the game to decide whether we felt it would be ready before the end of December, and we grudgingly came to the conclusion that it would not. Ultimately, we feel that to deliver an awesome Diablo sequel that lives up to our expectations and yours as well, we should take a little more time and add further polish to a few different elements of the game.

The upside of today’s announcement is that we will be running the beta test longer than we initially planned, which will allow us to invite more of you who have opted in.

For those taking on the Diableard challenge, we salute you -- and now fear for your well-being and personal hygiene. We hereby issue an official reprieve to all Diableard participants, including Blizzard employees, if you want to trim or otherwise manage the lower half of your face. We’d still love to see your beardly achievements, and we look forward to seeing more of your efforts as we move into 2012, but not to the detriment of your workplaces and significant others.

Thank you everyone for your support and anticipation for Diablo III. We’re still moving ahead at full pace, and we’ll be keeping you fully informed of any news and developments here at Diablo3.com, including the specific release date when the time comes, so stay tuned.

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

The Diablo III Beta Is Now Live

by Blizzard Entertainment

The fiery gates leading to the Burning Hells have begun to swing open, and the Diablo III beta test is officially underway. Invitations to participate in the beta test are now being delivered to the chosen heroes. As with beta tests for other Blizzard Entertainment games, the testing process for Diablo III will occur in phases. In addition to selecting players who have opted in via their Battle.net accounts, we’ll also be providing keys through beta promotions and giveaways -- stay tuned for more info. We welcome those invited to provide feedback or report bugs on the official forums.

If you have a beta license, you are free to show, share, or talk about any portion of the beta content to which you have access, as this beta test is not confidential.

We’d like to remind those looking forward to an invite to be wary of phishing attempts. If you believe you’ve received an invite to the Diablo III beta test, it’s best to refrain from clicking on any links in the email, and instead log in to your Battle.net account to see if a Diablo III beta game account was granted. Or, if you were sent a key, attempt to add it manually by going to the Add or Upgrade a Game section of the Battle.net account management page.

For those who have received an invite to the beta test, we thank you for helping us test out our server stability and hardware. For those of you still hoping for an invite, we wish you the best of luck and hope you’ll keep an eye out for some of the beta-key giveaways and promotions we’ll have right here on the Diablo III community site.

For more information, please see the beta opt-in announcement and FAQ.

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Friends That Slay Together, Stay Together

by Kaivax

In Diablo III, you’ll find it quite easy to switch from playing solo to joining other players in slaying demons that are more powerful and offer greater challenges. The benefits of playing with others co-operatively are legion. When opening a chest, slaying a demon, or rolling over a rotting corpse, each piece of gold or shiny item that may pop out is yours and yours alone. If you’ve decided to forego some killing power for bonuses to find extra gold or magical items, those bonuses likewise only apply to your drops. If you decide to be a generous murderer of demons, you can drop items you’ve found back on the ground and anyone in your party will be able to see them and pick them up. This is of course in addition to the regular trade window and your options to sell, salvage, or put items on the Auction House. Sharing amongst your buddies is the best way to offset someone’s unlucky drops and keep a group of friends on equal ground.

Most importantly, although monsters get tougher as additional friends come to help bash the demonic hell spawn lumbering toward you, you’ll kill more monsters faster as long as you stick together, which means playing with others is going to result in more loot for each player.

Co-op gameplay comes in three varieties designed to allow you to quickly create groups and come together in Sanctuary.

Call on your friends.

There is no faster or easier way to group up with other players in Diablo III than making a party of character level friends or Real ID friends. With a couple of clicks you’ll be able to invite people to your current game, join your friends' games, or broadcast to all of your friends that you’re looking for more. Anyone who sees your broadcast can accept the offer with one click and automatically be added to your game. As you and your friends join one another, the game seamlessly adjusts the difficulty of enemies so your group can get right to work, and by clicking on a friend’s banner in town you’ll be instantly transported to their location to add your sword or spells to the current battle.

Take it public.

Diablo III includes a robust public game finder for those times when you’re looking to meet some new adventurers. This feature will bring you together with players based on their level and the part of the game they’re looking to play through. By opening up your game to the public, anyone playing Diablo III can choose the Public Games option and automatically be placed in your game to help on the current quest. This is a perfect option for those looking to benefit from the increased killing speed of a full party, but who may not have any friends on at the time. It’s also a great way to make new friends! By using the Recent list in the Social window, you can see everyone you’ve recently played with and -- if you enjoyed slaughtering monsters with them -- send them a friend invite.

So you wanna fight?

That’s all you had to say! Simply create a party and choose Versus (rather than Campaign) as your game type. If you don’t have a specific friend to fight when you choose a player-vs.-player experience, the game will automatically group you with others who wish to do battle together in the PvP arenas based on level and skill. The matchmaking system will rapidly get you exchanging blows for the fast, fun, and furious PvP action.

There’s nothing better in Diablo III than standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other players and bringing the pain to Diablo’s minions, unless it’s going toe-to-toe with each other!

Do you intend to primarily play solo, with friends, public groups, or PvP? Tell us about it in the comments below.

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

The Diablo III Community Site Levels Up

by Zarhym

It’s been a mere three weeks since we officially introduced this brand-new website to the Diablo III community, leading up to the much-anticipated game launch. Well, friends, the community site has leveled up and now offers you a host of new features and information.

Firstly, you’ll want to make sure you check out the expanded Game section. Most notably you’ll see a new button called “What’s New in Diablo III?” Whether you’ve been intently following news of the game over the years, or it’s your first time visiting the community site, this section will get you well acquainted with the Diablo series and where the third installment fits in its evolution. Be sure to check out the comprehensive review of Runestones, followers, crafting/artisans, and more in the “What’s New in Diablo III?” section.

The Game guide also includes everything you need to know about the hero classes available to you in Diablo III, encompassing a deluge of information on active skills, passive skills, and key class features, as well as screenshots, gameplay videos, artwork, lore, unique equipment breakdowns, armor progression previews, and resource overviews. Feel free to leave comments at the bottom of each class page to let us know what you think.

Until you get your mittens on a freshly baked copy of Diablo III, you’ll want to make use of the class Skill Calculator. You can use this calculator to explore unique builds for your favored class by selecting active skills, Runestones, and passive skills. If you think you’ve found the deadliest combination for your class, be sure to export your build and spread the word! This feature will allow you to share your creations with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers with the click of a button, or anywhere else on the web you’d like by copying the unique URL.

We hope this expanded set of community site features helps whet your appetite for Diablo III’s gameplay and story. And for those of you anxiously awaiting a beta invite, explore the new website content carefully, as you may even find a sneak peek of some non-beta content. Let us know what you think by visiting the Website Features forum and stay tuned for additional expansions of the Diablo III community site. We have a lot more in store for you, including an in-depth look at items and artisans, coming soon!

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Sharing Is Caring: The Shared Stash

by Lylirra

Adventuring in Sanctuary can be a lucrative business. Between all the quests to complete, the corpses to loot, and all those barrels, crates, and chests to pilfer, players in Diablo III may quickly find their bags overflowing with treasure.

Fortunately, much of that loot can be equipped, sold on the Auction House, or salvaged to recoup gold or crafting materials. But, what about the remaining items that aren't immediately useful or would simply be more valuable to another character class?

Sure, you could just cast them aside, but that'd be crazy! Instead, why not place them in the shared stash?

One For Me, And One For You

In addition to a character's personal inventory, players in Diablo III will also have access to a shared stash, a new storage option which can be used by all characters on a Diablo III account. Accessible from each major town at the beginning of every act, the shared stash will give you an unprecedented amount of storage space, more flexibility when it comes to inventory management, and -- perhaps most importantly -- the ability to share the items you collect (or create) with whichever of your characters need them most.

While players will start out with only a single tab in their shared stash with a limited number of slots, upgrades in the form of additional slots and tabs can be purchased for gold by any character you create. You'll be able to buy up to 5 tabs, each containing 70 slots of space, for a total of 350 slots of shared storage! Once bought, the upgraded storage space will be available to every character on your Diablo III account.

A Golden Opportunity

Now, some of you who have played Diablo II may be wondering  whether or not gold can be stored in the shared stash. The short answer is "no," and that’s because the way gold is saved has been improved significantly in Diablo III.

Instead of gold needing to be stored in a character's inventory or its private stash, like it was in Diablo II, it will now be a pooled resource that's usable by all the characters on a Diablo III account.  This will help eliminate the tedium of having to move gold in and out of stashes, as well as make it quicker and easier for you to get back to the merciless, unrelenting slaughter of every hapless demon in sight.

That's So Hardcore

Hardcore characters are a breed apart. With the challenges and rigors of that play style in mind, it's important to note that Hardcore characters on a Diablo III account will share exclusive access to a shared stash (as well as an auction house and gold pool) that's completely separate from the one used by Normal characters. Players will still be able trade items between their Hardcore characters, but they won't be able to give Normal characters access to anything that's only available on Hardcore Mode, or vice versa.

The shared stash offers players a convenient way to store their precious items, crafting materials, and gems like never before. So, what kind of items do you think you'll hoard away? The High Heavens are the limit!

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Hit A New High Note At The Blizzard Music Section!

by Blizzard Entertainment

We are happy to announce the latest feature on the Blizzard site: the Blizzard Music Section. Check out some of your favorite musical numbers from Diablo, StarCraft, Warcraft, and World of Warcraft. With quick-and-easy access to the iTunes store, it has never been easier to browse our music, create your own playlist, and listen to the tunes you want, anytime, anywhere! Also, all you audiophiles out there, be sure to read the track notes straight from Blizzard’s sound team!

Diablo III - Overture

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm - Call of the Elements

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - I, Mengsk

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Destroying Items… With Care

by Daxxarri

Facing down the forces of the Burning Hells is a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. The good news is that the rewards for dispatching Diablo's minions are rich, as the vanquished legions of the foul fiends will shower you in gold, gems, and loot. Every item you grab will present an intriguing choice, and in Diablo III you’ll have several tools that will help you get the most out of your treasure.

Cauldron of Jordan

Shortly after you begin your adventure, you'll be provided with a useful little artifact: the Cauldron of Jordan. The cauldron allows you to skip trekking back to town when the time comes to sell your loot. After you obtain the Cauldron, you can reduce virtually any item in your inventory to gold, just as if you had sold it to a vendor. Gold can do a lot of things for you in Diablo III, from purchasing artisan services to repairing your damaged gear to buying shared stash slots. There's more than one way to get value from loot though, which brings us to the other handy tool you’ll have at your disposal.

Nephalem Cube

The Nephalem Cube is another very helpful item that you'll encounter over the course of your adventure. It works just like the Cauldron of Jordan, but with an important difference. When you click the Nephalem Cube it allows you to salvage crafting materials from your unwanted weapons, armor, rings, runes, and amulets. The process destroys the original item but yields a variety of materials that grow more powerful as increasingly rare items are salvaged. Thus, common items yield common crafting materials, but more rare and valuable items will yield potent mystical substances that can be used to create correspondingly mighty items and enhancements. You'll want to keep a well-stocked hoard of crafting materials, because there's great potential in those salvaged scraps.

Crafting

Delving into the Diablo III crafting system can be quite rewarding. You'll encounter three artisans on your journey: the Blacksmith, Jeweler, and Mystic. These crafters of fine magical items and effects will help you make brand new armor and weapons, add powerful enhancements to your existing armor and weapons, or carve additional gem sockets into your gear.

Each of your artisans only has limited know-how initially, but with the investment of some gold, crafting materials, and Pages of Training looted on your adventure, you can improve their skills to gain access to more (and more powerful) recipes. A few recipes can be found on the corpses of monsters or in eerie ruins as well, but your artisan may need to attain greater skills before they can be learned. Artisans also don't work for free. Crafting some of the most fearsome items and enhancements Sanctuary has ever seen doesn't come cheap: the better the item or enhancement, the rarer the components you'll need, and the more expensive it will be to achieve the finished product. That means it will pay great dividends to ensure that you have a steady stream of gold and salvaged materials flowing into your stash so you can reap the benefits of your artisans' ever increasing potential.

Decisions, decisions

Imagine finding a truly powerful artifact with just the right mix of stats. You wouldn't want to toss such a rare treasure into the Cauldron of Jordan or callously tear it apart with the Nephalem Cube. Instead, such a relic might better serve your hero directly in your crusade against diabolical hordes… or, perhaps you could provide it to another hero in need by selling it on the Auction House, trading it with a friend, or giving it to one of your other characters via the shared stash.

Every item you pick up over the course of your adventure in Sanctuary will present you with choices. Do you keep it? Salvage it? Auction it off? Give it away? With each new treasure you discover, only you can decide the best course of action.

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Diablo III Beta Opt-In and FAQ

by Blizzard Entertainment

Interested in signing up for an advance look at Diablo’s coming invasion of Sanctuary? To be eligible to participate in the Diablo III beta test, you need an active Battle.net account with any Blizzard game title attached to it. If you don’t already have an account, it’s easy to create one. Once you’ve set up a Battle.net account, or if you’ve already got one, you can access it by visiting http://us.battle.net/en/ and clicking the Account button on the upper right. Then, to opt into the beta, just click the Games & Codes section of your Account Management page, and then select the Beta Profile Settings option from the drop-down menu. You’ll be prompted to download the System Check beta opt-in application; running it will opt you in to the Diablo III beta. If your system specifications change, you can run the System Check application again to update your information.

 

While running the System Check application doesn’t guarantee you a place in the Diablo III beta, we wish you luck and hope to see you in Sanctuary.

FAQ:

How are beta test participants selected from the opt-in pool?
Beta testers are chosen according to their system specifications and other factors, including an element of luck. Our goal is to have a good variety of system types to best test compatibility.

Will there be any other ways to get into the beta besides the opt-in?
We’ll very likely be providing beta entry giveaways through various promotions on our sites, as well as through our official fansites. We’ll have information available on these promotions as they approach.

   

How many players do you plan to invite to the beta test?
The number of players we invite will be based on our testing needs. If during the course of testing we determine we need more players to participate, we’ll invite more.

   

What game content will be available in the beta?
You’ll be able to try out all five character classes and experience the early stages of Diablo III from the start of the game through the Skeleton King encounter. You’ll be able to interact with new and returning characters in New Tristram and fight the reawakened evils emanating from the cursed Tristram Cathedral.

Will the PvP arenas be available in the beta?
We don’t plan to include the PvP arenas in the beta test.

   

How long will the beta test last?
We have not determined an exact date for the end of the beta test. We will notify participants when the beta test is nearing completion.

   

Will the Diablo III Auction House be available in the beta?
We currently plan to test the functionality of the Diablo III gold-based auction house sometime after the initial beta launch.

   

Will Mac users be able to participate in the beta?
Yes, Mac users will be able to participate in the beta at the same time as Windows users.

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

The Sin War Trilogy

by Lylirra

If you're looking to learn more about the Diablo universe, there are a number of different fan sites, wikis, and databases that you can browse for information about everything from crafting to characters and background stories for all your favorite NPCs.

But if you want to delve deeper into the history of Sanctuary -- and don't mind curling up with a good book (or three) -- you can also check out The Sin War trilogy, written by best-selling author Richard A. Knaak.

Set three thousand years before the fall of Tristram, the trilogy chronicles the journeys of Uldyssian-ul-Diomed, a simple farmer who would eventually become the first descendant of the Nephalem --  the children of the angels and demons who once inhabited Sanctuary -- to manifest the unspeakable power of that lineage.

Sought by both the Burning Hells and the archangel Inarius, Uldyssian must find a way to harness his power and overthrow the forces that would threaten humanity, setting into motion events that would not only reveal the existence of Sanctuary to the High Heavens, but shape the fate of mankind for all eternity.

(Pretty cool, huh?)

All three Sin War books are currently available on the Blizzard Store, as well as at many local retailers.

Book One: Birthright

Book Two:  Scales of the Serpent

Book Three: The Veiled Prophet

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Back to Basics: Class Resource Systems

by Zarhym

Whether you’re intimately familiar with the realm of Sanctuary, or it’s your first time playing a Diablo game, it’s high time we brush up your knowledge of class resources. Managing resources like Fury (barbarian) or Mana (witch doctor) will be an integral element of your performance, and your ability to obliterate the demons and ghouls running rampant.

Live and Let Die
The importance of a resource like Life cannot be stressed enough. While the undead walk the realm of Sanctuary, you’ll find that deceased heroes aren’t nearly as effective. Your Life Orb will become less full as you take damage, and an empty orb makes for a dead hero.
When sending the minions of Hell back from whence they came, you’ll want to be on the lookout for Health Globes. These crimson orbs have a chance of dropping from nearly all creatures and will instantly restore a percentage of your Life when you walk over them. In addition, as with previous Diablo games, you’ll be able to carry Health Potions in your inventory. But use them sparingly! They have a rather lengthy cooldown.

Barbarian: Unleashing the Fury
Barbarians are battle-hardened, close-combat warriors. To that end, they use Fury as their resource to unleash devastating melee attacks against their foes. Fury is gained whenever the barbarian lands a successful attack, as well as when he or she is struck by an opponent. This resource depletes over time whenever the barbarian isn’t fighting, so you’ll generally want to make sure you’re at the forefront of the action, building up Fury to use stronger abilities. Fury is also gained steadily with attacks such as Bash and Cleave, while larger bursts of Fury can be generated by mighty abilities such as Leap Attack and Ground Stomp. Meanwhile, Fury-consuming abilities range from more defense-oriented skills like Threatening Shout, which reduces the damage of nearby enemies, to deadly attacks like Whirlwind, which continuously does massive damage as long as Fury persists. By managing both Fury generation and use, the barbarian can become the most brutal melee hero on the battlefield.
                                  
Demon Hunter: Balancing Hatred With Discipline
Hell-bent on seeking vengeance, the demon hunter is an agile adversary who uses advanced combat tactics to exact deadly attacks. As such, the demon hunter must manage a duo of resources: Hatred and Discipline. Hatred is a very quickly regenerating resource used to fuel an array of the demon hunter’s offensive abilities in the heat of battle, while Discipline regenerates much more slowly over time and affords the use of tactical skills, when the moment is just right for controlling opponents. For example, a Hatred skill like Bola Shot wraps around your target, exploding shortly thereafter to do heavy area-of-effect damage. On the other hand, through extensive training and careful preparation, the demon hunter uses Discipline for skills which can provide a means of keeping distance from enemies, or entrap them. Smoke Screen, a skill for the most disciplined of hunters, allows you to vanish out of sight for a brief period of time, costing a percentage of Discipline to use. The demon hunter can use their Hatred of the damned to deal direct damage, and Discipline in combat tactics to lure them into well-laid traps, hunting them mercilessly until they’re driven back to the Burning Hells.
                                  
Monk: Attuning to the Spirit
Similar to the barbarian, the monk excels at close-quarters combat. Unlike the barbarian, however, the monk doesn’t benefit from being hit by foes and cannot afford to take nearly as much damage. Instead, the monk can use Spirit to release a series of lightning-fast attacks and precisely orchestrated defensive skills, to the point of artistry. Spirit is generated through use of melee attacks and select special abilities, and does not degenerate until used by a skill that costs Spirit. This allows for powerful and poetic combos, often leaving monsters bewildered in their last breath. For instance, Spirit can be used to activate the mystical Seven Sided Strike, allowing you to dash swiftly from enemy to enemy exacting seven fluid, yet abusive attacks. Other skills, however, are available to help generate Spirit. Fists of Thunder is one of these: a series of extremely fast punches deal Lightning damage to enemies and have a chance to interrupt incoming enemy attacks. It’s within the Spirit of the monk that a truly deadly hero is beheld.
                                  
Witch Doctor: Tapping Into Mana
The witch doctor carries the classic feel of a dark spellcaster, using voodoo and vile summoned creatures to keep fiends at more than an arm’s length, slaughtering them in the process. As a witch doctor, you’re a veritable one-man army, using Mana to summon animated grotesqueries to aid you in combat. Mana will slowly regenerate on its own, but the witch doctor also has key skills designed to replenish his reserves, such as Mana Steal or Spirit spells (combined with powerful passive skills) that can return Mana whenever cast.  Along with summoning minions, Mana powers the relentless damage-dealing skills and elusive defensive magic at your disposal. Firebomb, for example, lobs an explosive skull, dealing substantial area-of-effect damage to enemies within its blast radius. Meanwhile, a spell like Horrify can be used to cause foes to flee in fear for a short period of time. Better yet, defensive and offensive capabilities can be combined in devastating spells like Mass Confusion, which incites paranoia in adversaries and can lead them to attack one another. Using Mana, witch doctors are the ultimate purveyors of unsavory magics, which affords them the pleasing opportunity to instigate mayhem on the battlefield.
                                  
Wizard: Controlling the Arcane Power
Similar to the witch doctor, the wizard is a powerful magic user who obliterates evildoers, often from a distance. Unlike the witch doctor, however, the wizard relies less on summoned creatures, and doesn’t perform wicked spells or use Mana. The wizard instead draws from Arcane Power to use spells of varying disciplines. Arcane Power is a fast regenerating resource and allows you to perform spells such as Ray of Frost, which projects a beam of ice that blasts the first enemy it hits with repeated Cold damage, also slowing movement and attack speed. Arcane Power fuels capable defensive spells like Energy Armor, which increases your Defense for a short period of time at the cost of lowered maximum Arcane Power for its duration. Other spells can be used with Arcane Power to allow the wizard to escape, or stay out of the grasp of the damned. For instance, Teleport lets you jump through the ether to a selected location, while Slow Time invokes a bubble of warped time and space, slowing the movement and attack speed of enemies and their projectiles. Ever attuned to the Arcane forces of their realm, wizards dominate opponents with deadly damaging spells, an array of ethereal magic to keep villains at a safe distance, and elegant defenses to mystically mitigate incoming damage.
                                  
Maximizing the Devastation
While the fundamental rules of each resource are set in stone, how they’re strategically spent can be greatly customized through passive skills, which can drastically alter how quickly and efficiently your resources generate or regenerate. Through the use of specific skills, as well as the near unlimited combinations offered by skill runes, you can fine-tune your character’s power through resource management and control. Now the choice is yours. Pick your favored class and learn to maximize the benefits of the resources at your disposal, rendering you an incredibly powerful hero and deadly foe of the forces of darkness.

FROM: https://us.battle.net/

BlizzCon 2011 World of Warcraft Pet: Meet Murkablo

by Blizzard Entertainment

An ill omen streaks across the sky over Azeroth's Great Sea, heralding the arrival of this year's BlizzCon-exclusive World of Warcraft in-game companion: the fearsome-ish Murkablo, aquatic protégé of Diablo III's eponymous Lord of Terror! Anyone who attends BlizzCon 2011 or purchases this year's BlizzCon Virtual Ticket will receive a Murkablo to call their own, along with a yet-to-be-revealed StarCraft II in-game gift.

BlizzCon 2011 takes place on October 21 and 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. If you order the Virtual Ticket Internet stream online through Battle.net, Murkablo and the StarCraft II gift will be automatically attached to the Battle.net account you use to make your purchase shortly after BlizzCon begins. DIRECTV customers who order the BlizzCon Pay Per View event will receive a code granting access to the Internet stream and the in-game gifts via email.
For further details or to order the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, check out the Virtual Ticket web page.
FROM: https://us.battle.net/

Diablo 3: IGN Beta Preview

Diablo III Technical Interview (PC, Mac)

Diablo 3 Trailer: Cinematic HD

Diablo 3: Official Followers Trailer

Blizzard Entertainment

Website: http://www.blizzard.com
Blizzard started off as a third-party developer for DOS, Mac, Genesis and SNES platforms, creating games like The Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, Blackthorne and The Death and Return of Superman.
Warcraft really carved out a place for Blizzard in the PC entertainment space, making the company one of the premier creator of realtime strategy games. The game's sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, has sold more than two million copies worldwide, and titles like Starcraft and Diablo continue the company's stream of big hits.
Blizzard became part of publisher Havas (which later became Vivendi Universal and Vivendi Games in 1998), where it operated as a subsidiary operation. In December of 2007, Vivendi Games and Activision merged and used the high-profile Blizzard name in the joint company title, Activision Blizzard.

ESRB Ratings

Curious about the ESRB ratings and what they mean? Take a look at the list below.


Early Childhood
Titles rated EC (Early Childhood) have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.


Everyone
Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, and/or infrequent use of mild language.


Everyone 10+
Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language, and/or minimal suggestive themes.


Teen
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.


Mature
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.


Adults Only
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.


Rating Pending
Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game's release.)
To further assist parents and game buyers with pre-orders and other purchasing decisions, and also to advise children on titles that they may be interested in looking into, the ESRB amended the "RP" logo in 2008. Titles not yet been rated that are anticipating a rating of "T (for Teen)" or above and that may contain mature content will often use the revised "RP" logo. Listed as RP-T+ in some uses, this rating denotes that content in this game has not been fully evaluated but will likely not be appropriate for children. Those interested in the product should check back for the official rating before purchasing if they are still considering the title.

Standard Rating Pending Mark

Revised Rating Pending Mark
for Titles Anticipating T, M or AO Ratings
ESRB Content Descriptors

• Alcohol Reference - Reference to and/or images of alcoholic beverages
• Animated Blood - Discolored and/or unrealistic depictions of blood
• Blood - Depictions of blood
• Blood and Gore - Depictions of blood or the mutilation of body parts
• Cartoon Violence - Violent actions involving cartoon-like situations and characters. May include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted
• Comic Mischief - Depictions or dialogue involving slapstick or suggestive humor
• Crude Humor - Depictions or dialogue involving vulgar antics, including "bathroom" humor
• Drug Reference - Reference to and/or images of illegal drugs
• Fantasy Violence - Violent actions of a fantasy nature, involving human or non-human characters in situations easily distinguishable from real life
• Intense Violence - Graphic and realistic-looking depictions of physical conflict. May involve extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons, and depictions of human injury and death
• Language - Mild to moderate use of profanity
• Lyrics - Mild references to profanity, sexuality, violence, alcohol, or drug use in music
• Mature Humor - Depictions or dialogue involving "adult" humor, including sexual references
• Nudity - Graphic or prolonged depictions of nudity
• Partial Nudity - Brief and/or mild depictions of nudity
• Real Gambling - Player can gamble, including betting or wagering real cash or currency
• Sexual Content - Non-explicit depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including partial nudity
• Sexual Themes - References to sex or sexuality
• Sexual Violence - Depictions of rape or other violent sexual acts
• Simulated Gambling - Player can gamble without betting or wagering real cash or currency
• Strong Language - Explicit and/or frequent use of profanity
• Strong Lyrics - Explicit and/or frequent references to profanity, sex, violence, alcohol, or drug use in music
• Strong Sexual Content - Explicit and/or frequent depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including nudity
• Suggestive Themes - Mild provocative references or materials
• Tobacco Reference - Reference to and/or images of tobacco products
• Use of Drugs - The consumption or use of illegal drugs
• Use of Alcohol - The consumption of alcoholic beverages
• Use of Tobacco - The consumption of tobacco products
• Violence - Scenes involving aggressive conflict. May contain bloodless dismemberment
• Violent References - References to violent acts

When a content descriptor is preceded by the term 'Mild', it conveys low frequency, intensity or severity of the content it modifies.
Online Rating Notice - Online-enabled games carry the notice "Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB." This notice warns those who intend to play the game online about possible exposure to chat (text, audio, video) or other types of content created by other players (e.g., maps, skins) that have not been considered in the ESRB rating assignment.
The ESRB rating icons are registered trademarks of the Entertainment Software Association.
Source: Entertainment Software Rating Board
(Visit ESRB for more information on the ratings system.)