Blizzard Hopes StarCraft II Launches Before Diablo III News

The corridors of Blizzard Entertainment are certainly buzzing with activity at the moment, with the studio working on three major projects, not least the long awaited sequel to the 1998 RTS, StarCraft.

Originally announced at the developer's 2007 Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, StarCraft II is yet to receive even a year of release, let alone anything more specific. But surely it'll launch before Diablo III, which was only unveiled earlier in the year?

Not necessarily, according to Blizzard Entertainment co-founder and vice president, Frank Pearce. Speaking to TVG at the Game Convention, Pearce stated "I wouldn't assume anything. Certainly, that's our hope - StarCraft II is ahead of Diablo III in the development cycle."

Confirming that StarCraft II will only be released 'when it's done', Blizzard PR man Bob Colayco also revealed his hope that Diablo III will launch before the rumoured 2011.

Away from when gamers can expect to get their hands on the game, Pearce also reiterated that there were no plans to take the sci-fi RTS onto any console platform, though he didn't rule out a future Blizzard RTS on the consoles, stating that it would be up to the development team's ambitions:

"It depends on whether you have a development team that's really committed to that idea. If they were developing it from the ground up with that in mind then it's certainly a possibility. We're developing StarCraft II for the ground up on the PC in mind, and we don't have any intentions for taking it over to the console. But you know, it just depends on the development team, their ambitions, and their thoughts about it."

The co-founder also offered some reassurance over the merger with Activision and the protection of Blizzard's key brands, confirming that "One of our policies is to make investments in the Blizzard brand and not take withdrawals. We make investments in the brand by taking a long-term view of the world and recognising that more damage is done by releasing a game that's not ready, than the damage that's done by holding it for a little bit extra to make sure that it's right."

TVG's full interview with Frank Pearce and Bob Colayco will be launching later today.