Diablo 4 lead dev defends “frustrating” Beta issues ahead of full launch

Diablo 4 general manager Rod Fergusson has defended the game’s beta issues, stating that it will “make the actual launch of the game that much better”.

Diablo 4’s most recent beta proved to be a bit troublesome for Blizzard, with many players running into bugs and error codes with the dungeon crawler. Alongside the bugs, long queue times were prevalent for many players, causing some to wait between 30 minutes and an hour, just to be disconnected.

Many players have expressed their annoyance with the beta, taking to Twitter and other social media spaces to share their poor experience with the beta. Blizzard was quick to respond, however, working throughout the weekend and implementing several hotfixes in response to the buggy state of the game. Blizzard has stated that they’ve continued to roll out server improvements, and believe players will see continued improvement in queue times, even as early as the next public beta weekend.

In a recent interview with NME, Diablo 4’s general manager Rod Fergusson went on to defend the beta, despite the negative reception it received from players in light of early issues. Fergusson empathized with player frustrations, stating that “we had a little bit of a rocky start on Friday”.

He then echoed Blizzard’s earlier statement, speaking more about their efforts to ensure the beta would work in the game’s favor.

“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.” Fergusson stated. Diablo 4 is yet to have its open beta, which will open on March 24th and run til the 26th.

Fergusson asked players to understand that whilst their frustration is valid, they need to recognize that they’re helping make the launch of the game better.

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

Finally, Fergusson disclosed what he believed the Diablo 4 early access beta was for, stating that many have gotten the term “beta” misconstrued.

“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,” Fergusson told NME.

“That’s not our case at all. Our beta is actually us testing our technology – especially on the server side.

Diablo 4 will be looking to launch on June 6th, meaning Blizzard still has a bit of time to iron out all the server issues before the game’s launch. If you’re looking to partake in the next open beta starting March 24th, you can read up on how to do so here.