Diablo 3 Coming After StarCraft II, Blizzard Talks DRM and Steam

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Diablo III "will definitely be out after StarCraft II," said Blizzard design VP Rob Pardo.

Pardo, in an extensive interview with Wired, also shed light on the company's plans for DRM and digital distribution. "Battle.net really is our most effective DRM," he said, adding, "That's really kinda been the thing that's always saved us from a lot of the PC piracy that I think hurts a lot of other single-player-only games."

Blizzard plans to similarly rely on its multiplayer match-making service to protect its interests with StarCraft II and Diablo III after their release. "No, there's no particular plans for that," said Pardo in response to a question about the games "phoning home" to check their authenticity with Blizzard servers each time before launching. "If you want to use an analogy--we take an approach that's more similar to Steam than EA, let's say," he explained.

As for Steam itself, Pardo stopped short of shooting down the idea of launching Blizzard products on the service, stating that Blizzard for now plans to stick with its own digital distribution service. "I think we're probably currently in the mindset that we're going to digitally distribute just on Battle.net. I don't know if our strategy will change in the future. I think it's something that we're just trying to get really good at doing ourselves for now," he said.

From The Chatty
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    October 15, 2008 12:24 PM

    He is absolutely right. I've bought 4 copies of Frozen Throne for DotA for my brothers, cousin, and I. The stellar online offering from Blizzard and Battle.net has never been matched. Battle.net was the reason why D2 was so much better than Titan Quest. Battle.net is the reason why Starcraft and Warcraft 3 are still so widely played.

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      October 15, 2008 12:42 PM

      that's all a matter of opinion and preference as to what it is that a person is looking for in a game. granted, most gamers are looking for exactly what D2 offers and not what Titan Quest offered.

      either way, i plan on enjoying D3, i will probably even play through it a couple of times with different characters, but will never waste a minute of my time in B.Net, too many other good games out there to enjoy to waste time rehashing the same thing over and over and over.

      • reply
        October 15, 2008 12:58 PM

        I'm exactly the opposite. I loved Titan Quest, but could never get into Diablo II.

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          October 15, 2008 1:04 PM

          I liked both games but I didn't like Titan Quest any less for not having Battle.net. I never bothered playing on Battle.net. Too many retards floating around there.

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