‘Diablo III’ Beta’s Omega Is May 1

If you’ve been feasting on the free hacking, slashing and looting offered up by the ‘Diablo III‘ beta, get ready to go on a diet. The game’s free pre-release appetizer goes offline May 1, two weeks before it launches on PC.

Online betas are both brilliant marketing moves — players get a taste of the new game, spread the word and cough up their pre-order cash — and savvy technical maneuvers that help developers iron out kinks as they tune up games for release. Word around the virtual campfire is that ‘Diablo III’ lives up to all expectations, but we’ll have to wait a few weeks to verify the chatter.

And those who game strictly on consoles will have to wait much longer. Last we heard, Blizzard grudgingly mentioned that a console version was in the works, but have given no firm release window yet.

[Via Diablo III Blog]