The closed beta test for Diablo 4 is ending in two weeks’ time after running smoothly for a couple of weeks. The invite-only beta will shut down its servers on November 18. The date is found in the in-game patch notes for the beta version of Diablo 4. Players who haven’t received an invite to the closed beta still have a chance to get them in the next few weeks. Those who aren’t so lucky will have to wait until the public beta opens early next year for everyone who wants to try out the game before purchasing it. While the closed beta is covered by an NDA, we have had some information leaked. There was even footage from the game posted online just a few days after the beta test started. Blizzard has accounted for the possibility of a leak by only allowing players to experience the end-game content, rather than the campaign. This was deliberately done so that none of the plot elements would not be leaked to the public. The initial review of Diablo 4 has so far been a mixed bag. Players are loving the characters and the progression system. However, there have been issues with the end-game level scaling. Beta testers have been reporting that the difficulty of dungeons ramps up too quickly. This resulted in players getting stuck in certain levels. Thankfully, the purpose of the closed beta is to gather feedback from players and apply tweaks to the game. The information that the devs gather from gamers will be used to further streamline the experience. While Blizzard intentionally chose to let players only access the end-game content so as to prevent spoiling the campaign, it will also benefit fans of the game. Most Diablo players spend more time on the end-game content than the story. Having a beta test for the end-game content will streamline it more toward what players want from the post-campaign activities. After the closed beta test concludes, Blizzard will take some time to process all intel they’ve received and make adjustments to the game in preparation for the public beta tests. The studio has not yet given an exact date for the public beta. We will hopefully get more information from Blizzard regarding Diablo 4 in the coming weeks. There have been rumors that Blizzard will be making a pre-order announcement for Diablo 4 at The Game Awards next month. We will also hopefully get a release date along with the pre-order announcement. Diablo 4 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2023.
