Diablo III due in Q2 2012

RPG fans still have a while to wait for the return of Blizzard’s hugely popular Diablo series.

The publisher’s CEO Mike Morhaime announced that Diablo III will be released in the second quarter of 2012 – anywhere between April and June.

The new release window was given during an investor call discussing Activision Blizzard’s full-year financials for 2011, during which the publisher took $4.7bn in revenues.

"We can also confirm that we are targeting a Q2 launch for Diablo III," he said. "We expect to announce more details about the release schedule in the coming weeks."

Eurogamer reports that Activision Blizzard CFO Thomas Tippl added that "at least" two Blizzard games will land on shelves before the year is out. The other titles Blizzard has in the works are DOTA, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and the fourth World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria.

Diablo III was announced way back in 2008. Last year, Blizzard hinted at an "early 2012" release.