When Blizzard set the release date for Diablo 4 for June 6, they also announced an open beta. You can't register anywhere just yet, but if you pre-order the game, you are promised early access. According to the game's producer, the beta will take place soon.

Last week, Diablo 4 producer Rod Fergusson wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab) that an open beta start date will be announced soon." If we had announced something like that this month, at some sort of gaming moment ... " he said, which could be referring to IGN's Fan Fest 2023 (open in new tab) stream later this month.

IGN has listed Diablo 4 as one of the games it will feature in its stream on February 17 and 18; neither Blizzard nor Diablo's social media accounts have said that any announcements are expected this month. However, given Fergusson's comments and the impending release date of Diablo 4, it seems likely that an announcement, whether at an IGN event or another, will be made at this time.

Diablo 4 has already gone through Blizzard's "friends and family" alpha test and another, more extensive playtest that resulted in a few minutes of leaked footage (opens in new tab) (oops) and an end-game beta test last September (opens in new tab) Diablo enthusiasts were invited.

I played the first area of the game last year (opens in new tab) and can confirm that it definitely looks and plays like Diablo. The open-world structure doesn't really feel that different from Diablo 3, but Blizzard has said that the full game will allow you to move around a large map and choose which areas to play in. The preview build was anchored in the snowy Fractured Peaks zone, and the demon slaying felt intact, but the game's quests and dialogue were unfinished, with placeholder text and text-to-speech voices in place of final assets. It is likely that I played an older build, so the open beta may resemble a more complete game.

Compared to Diablo 3, Diablo 4 is slated to look like a live service game. It will require online play, with open world events where other players will help players. It will not be free to play the base game, but will include a battle pass in conjunction with end-of-season content, which will begin after the game launches. Getting all of this right will probably require a fair amount of playtesting.

It is common for Blizzard to run multiple betas before release, as is the case with both Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft: both Overwatch 2 and Dragonflight let players test the final stages of the game close to release. I wouldn't be surprised if Diablo 4's open beta starts within the next two months, giving everyone enough time to get a glimpse of its scope and help prepare for its launch. No one would want to go through another Error 37 (open in new tab) situation like.