In a shocker of an announcement, Blizzard has revealed that beginning later today, it will be holding a open beta test period for the long awaited action-RPG sequel Diablo III. Yes, that means nearly anyone with a PC that can run the game can download and play a small portion of one of the most anticipated games of 2012.
The client for the open beta test is already available to download from Blizzard in both PC and Mac flavors. Besides the client, you will have to sign up for a free Battle.net account in order to play the beta version. South Korean gamers unfortunately won"t be able to participate in the open beta but they will apparently get their own closed beta test at some point.
For the rest of the world, the Diablo III open beta will begin at 12:01 pm Pacific time today (that"s 3:01 pm Eastern time) and end on Monday, April 23rd at 10 am Pacific Time (that"s 1 pm Eastern time).
This open beta is serving as a stress test for Blizzard"s Battle.net servers before the final version of the game is released on May 15th. The open beta will allow folks to access all five of Diablo III"s hero classes and play them up to level 13.