Blizzard is hosting a ‘server slam’ event in front of Diablo 4’s release date

Diablo 4 gets a surprise third beta test in front of the game’s June 6 release date, Blizzard Entertainment announced Thursday. The next Diablo 4 open beta is scheduled to operate from May 12 to May 14 for any “server slam” event. Blizzard originally planned two beta weekends in March, but this is another opportunity to test out the sport while it’s greater than a month out. (Notably, this is The Legend of Zelda: Tears from the Kingdom’s launch weekend.)

Developers on-hand in a Diablo 4 developer update livestream on Thursday announced the brand-new dates toward the end of the broadcast. The beta begins on May 12 at 9 a.m. PDT and ends on May 14 at 9 a.m. PDT. All the beta rewards from previous beta weekends, such as the wolf puppy backpack, are going to be available for players. Levels will once more be capped at 20, and Blizzard says that feedback and balance changes in the previous betas are going to be reflected in the brand-new beta.

Progress in the earlier beta weekends won't carry over towards the May beta, and progress from that won’t allow it to be over to launch. Blizzard also said players are going to be able to level up to 20 — but next, players stop earning ability points but could still get gear. Lastly, the Legendary drop rate is different to match that of the launch version of Diablo 4.

Blizzard Entertainment started hinting at another beta period on Wednesday following a Diablo 4 Twitter account vaguely teased it: The Diablo account quote-tweeted an admirer saying they “need more Diablo 4 game time.” That was then a shifty eyes emoji from Diablo 4 global community development manager Adam Fletcher.

Diablo 4’s beta would be a big success, drawing enough players to produce “lengthy queue times” for players looking to get onto its servers. The new beta period is probably to face those self-same issues — a stress test prior to the actual release. The open beta client, like last time, can be obtained to download with the PlayStation and Xbox Stores, and from Blizzard itself via Battle.net for PC players.

Diablo 4 is going to be released on June 6 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Players that pre-order Diablo 4 can get access to the sport as early as June 1.