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Diablo II: Resurrected will run a closed beta starting Friday, August 13 for players who pre-ordered the game, and an open beta starting Friday, August 20.
Beta tests will be playable on all consoles and PCs except Nintendo Switch, according to Blizzard.com. Xbox Live Gold is required for the pre-order beta on August 13, but not required for the open beta on August 20. PlayStation Plus is not required for either of the two beta tests. Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus will both be required for multiplayer functionality when the game launches.
- From Friday, August 13 at 10:00 a.m. PDT to Tuesday August 17 at 10:00 a.m. PDT, anyone who pre-ordered Diablo II: Resurrected or the Diablo Prime Evil Collection will be able to participate in an Early Access beta. . Players can preload the beta starting August 11.
- From Friday August 20 at 10:00 am PDT through Monday August 23rd at 10:00 am PDT, the Open Beta begins with no pre-order necessary. Preloads for this beta begin for console gamers on Tuesday August 17 and for PC gamers on Wednesday August 18.
Progress will be carried over between the two betas, but no progress will be carried over from the beta held earlier this year. Cross-progression will be available during both beta periods, but a separate pre-order is required for each platform during the Early Access Beta. There will be no level cap for this beta, and it’s unclear whether beta progression will continue into the main game.
Similar to a previous beta test, only Acts I and II will be playable. The Barbarian, Amazon and Witch classes from this beta will be playable again, as well as the Paladin and Druid classes which are new to this beta. The game will launch with two other classes, Assassin and Necromancer, but these two classes will not be available during the betas.
The news comes as Activision-Blizzard continues to face criticism from its employees and fans. The state of California sued the company on July 20 for discrimination and sexual harassment against female employees. In a statement released Tuesday, one of Activison’s investors, SOC, expressed dissatisfaction with Activison’s response to the lawsuit. SOC calls for more diversity on the board, pay cuts for leaders who have supported sexist behavior and other changes.
The first game Activision-Blizzard will release following their controversy is Diablo II: Resurrected on September 23. A Call of Duty game will also be released by the company this fall.
Activision will also be attending Gamescom this year. Be sure to check out the full Gamescom 2021 schedule.
Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.
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