I say “possibly” in the title because nothing is ever concrete with Blizzard and their release dates unless it comes from Blizzard itself.
That said, Best Buy appears to have jumped the gun (or perhaps it has received inside information the rest of us are not yet privy to) and tagged Diablo III’s release date as February 1st, 2012. They are accepting pre-orders for the game and intend to stage a midnight release for Blizzard’s haunted action RPG.
The release date coincides with the previously leaked Blizzard release roadmap (Destructoid) which marked Diablo III for a Q4 2011 release, a date which has come and gone but not without a little fanfare from Blizzard itself, which confirmed that their intentions to release the game last year had been postponed due to some last-minute changes and additions to the game itself.
In a statement released last September, Blizzard chief Mike Morhaime confirmed that the game would be available in stores “early 2012.”
We’ll be holding him to his word.