Diablo III PvP delayed, to be added via post-launch patch

Blizzard wants to released Diablo III very soon, but unfortunately in order to do that some things are going to get left on the cutting floor. It's just that no one expected the entire Diablo III PvP system to be at the top of the cut list. That is the current reality though, as Blizzard has decided to remove the Arena system in the rush to get their game out the door.

Blizzard game director Jay Wilson released the following statement in a post on Battle.net this afternoon:

"As we’re counting down the days until we’re ready to announce a release date for Diablo III, we’ve come to realize that the PvP game and systems aren’t yet living up to our standards. Today, we wanted to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision to hold back the PvP Arena system and release it in a patch following the game’s launch. After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who’s waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete."

Jay goes on to assuage fans, reminding us of a looming release date announcement. As said in the above quote, expect an announcement in days, not weeks or months. After release, PvP will eventually be added in a patch. The post doesn't explicitly state the patch will be free, but we can likely assume so.

The patch will add a number of PvP Arenas set in a variety of locations, and also a matchmaking system that pairs you with similarly experienced opponents. PvP achievements will also be added at that point, along with a reward system for dedicated PvPers. To be fair, Diablo's PvP system is much more robust than what we've seen in Diablo I and II. It's more comparable to World of Warcraft's Arena system, which is very popular and was coincidentally also added months after World of Warcraft launched.

We've only been in the beta a few weeks now, and it really ins't enough to sate our needs. Please put out Diablo III soon, Blizzard. The anticipation is unbearable.