Blizzard: Diablo 3 expansion in the works

A Diablo 3 expansion is in development, Blizzard has confirmed.

During an investor call last night Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime revealed an expansion to the 10 million-selling action role-playing game is in the works, but stopped short of saying when it will release.

“So we do have a plan,” he said. “An expansion planned for Diablo. I don't have any timeline to talk about. I think that the most important thing for us always comes down to the quality of the expansion and the gameplay, and so that will be a big factor in terms of driving our schedule.”

Two years ago Blizzard's release schedule leaked onto the internet. It detailed a Q2 2013 release window for Diablo 3 X1 and a Q4 2014 release window for Diablo 3 X2. But we should note that this graph may be outdated (it was accurate as of 2nd April 2010). If Blizzard keeps to this schedule, it means the first Diablo 3 expansion will release roughly a year after the main game launched.

Meanwhile, Morhaime touched briefly on Blizzard All-Stars, its in-development MOBA game.

Little has been heard of it since it was announced, save for some high-profile back and forth between Blizzard and Valve over the use of the Dota name (both parties settled their differences, with Valve retaining control over the term).

“Blizzard All-Stars is in development, and we're doing some great work,” Morhaime said.

“Some internal testing is under way. We're doing a lot of things to experiment with game play, and I don't really have anything concrete to announce on this call, other than we're very excited about the game.”

As reported last night, StarCraft 2 expansion Heart of the Swarm won't be released until the first half of 2013.

And, in other news, Blizzard confirmed BlizzCon, the company's gargantuan fan convention, will return next year after skipping 2012.