Diablo 3

Blizzard will also use the BlizzCon event to introduce Diablo 3 to gamers and if the excitement of Blizzard employees is anything to go by, the game will be a big deal. According to a message sent to WoW Guru by former Blizzard employee Chris Hartgraves, Diablo 3 takes place in heaven. Hell is trying to take it over and it is AWESOME looking ... Imagine the brightness of heaven being taken over by the darkness of hell ... Imagine WoW but in a Diablo world in amount of size and playability ... Also, guild housing is available in this game for those of you who know about it. They should have a gameplay demo to show at BlizzCon.

Diablo 3's existence confirmed?

Source: The aptly named Blizzard Entertainment fan site Blizzplanet.com.

What we heard: For years, rumors have bounced around that Blizzard is secretly developing a third installment in its groundbreaking Diablo role-playing series. Just this past February, a flurry of speculation followed the posting of several job listings for leads to join "the team behind Diablo I and II" for "an unannounced PC project."

Now, the rumor forge is heating up again, thanks to an interview with Richard A. Knaak, author of three Diablo-based books--Diablo: Legacy of Blood (2001), Diablo: The Kingdom of Shadow (2002), and Diablo: Moon of the Spider (2006). Knaak has also written novels based on Warcraft and the Dungeon & Dragons Dragonlance spin-off. He is currently penning a series of novels featuring the classic fantasy character--and future massively multiplayer online role-playing game hero--Conan the Barbarian.

To promote his forthcoming Diablo book, Diablo: The Sin War: Book One: Birthright, Knaak spoke with Blizzplanet.com and took questions from its readers. However, the biggest bomb came from a site staffer going by the handle "Medievaldragon," who casually asked if his latest book--the first of a trilogy--would "impact in the storyline of Diablo 3 the game."

Knaak responded candidly, saying, "The ramifications here will be used for any future project...and I ain't writing for a dead game. ." (Emoticon in the original.) Later, when asked by a reader about Diablo, he repeated his loaded words. "I am not writing for a dead world...but a world with dead," said Knaak, adding, "'Nuff said!

The official story: As it has in the past, Blizzard danced around any inquires about the status--or existence--of Diablo 3. "We love the Diablo universe and are definitely interested in returning to it at some point in the future," a rep told GameSpot. "However, at this time, we're wholly focused on completing the upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft."

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that someday there will be a new Diablo game. But with the WOW expansion being delayed until 2007, it appears that Blizzard has its hands full at the moment.

If we had a Diablo 3 that would be almost as glorious a day as if blizz announced a Starcraft 2