Diablo III announced as in development

Popular RPG returns

30 June 2008 13:26 GMT / By Verity Burns

Blizzard has announced the release of Diablo III at its Worldwide Invitational in Paris.

The third instalment in the popular action-RPG series is being developed for PC and Mac, with the company confirming it had no plans for console versions.

Blizzard showed a trailer and 20 minutes of gameplay footage to its Paris audience. It also confirmed the game would include drop-in/drop-out co-operative play and a mixture of random and static maps.

Diablo III's storyline takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the world of Sanctuary from the forces of both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, has been destroyed. Queue all sorts of evil goings on - for you to sort out, of course.

The game is fully 3D now, thanks to a new graphics engine, and its physics are powered by Havoc.

There are 60 screenshots and pieces of concept art available over on the Diablo III website.

Blizzard say its too early to give a release date as present but we'll keep you updated with what we hear.