Blizzard says Diablo 4 beta issues have paved the way for a smoother launch

Blizzard has said the “rocky start” to Diablo 4’s beta is helping to pave the way for a smoother launch.

Early access to the Diablo 4 beta ran from March 17-19 for players who had pre-ordered the game, and the test opened to queues of several hours for some players.

Some users also reported that once they were able to get into the game, crashes and an inability to connect with friends dogged the experience.

The Diablo 4 beta will open up to everyone from March 24-26, ahead of the game’s release in June, and players should expect notable improvements, according to franchise boss Rod Fergusson.

“The word beta nowadays has kind of been misconstrued, where people start calling things beta that’s [actually] a marketing beta, and it’s just another term for a demo,” he told NME.

“That’s not our case at all. Our beta is actually us testing our technology – especially on the server side. We had a little bit of a rocky start on Friday.”

Fergusson added: “We put out six hotfixes over the weekend, we solved dozens of issues and all of that work is going to pay off next weekend and then pave it for launch.

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“Sometimes as a player it can be a little frustrating, but they have to recognise that they’re helping us make the actual launch of the game that much better.”

Fergusson recently took to Twitter to state that Diablo 4 isn’t planned for Xbox Game Pass, as Microsoft‘s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard rumbles on.