Diablo II: Resurrected won’t be released until September 24, 2021 at the earliest, but the remastered version of Blizzard’s 2000 hack-and-slash classic will be available to try early as part of an Early Access and Open Beta program. The starting time and eligibility requirements for these tests were confirmed by Blizzard today.
According to Blizzard’s article, Diablo II: Resurrected’s Early Access period will begin on Friday, August 13 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. Early Access is open to anyone who has purchased a copy of Diablo II: Resurrected or Diablo Prime Evil Collection for the PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PS4 platforms. Players will be able to pre-load the game two days early on August 11.
Diablo II: Resurrected’s Early Access period ends on August 17 at 10:00 a.m. (PDT) but will be followed by an Open Beta. That test begins on Friday, August 20 and will be open to anyone who is interested in testing out the PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PS4 versions of the game. Pre-loading for the Open Beta will begin on Wednesday, August 18 for PC players via Battle.net, while console players can do the same one day earlier on Tuesday, August 17 by visiting the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store.
As noted in the FAQ, Diablo II: Resurrected’s beta will include “the full narrative experience of the game, alongside the narrative content of the expansion, Lord of Destruction.” Five classes will also be playable: the Amazon, Barbarian, Sorceress, Druid, and Paladin.
Blizzard is allowing all players to capture, record, or stream the game throughout the Early Access Beta and the Open Beta.
Xbox Live Gold is required to play during Early Access to the Open Beta and to access multiplayer features at launch on Xbox platforms. Xbox Live Gold is not required to play during the Open Beta (non-Early Access) on Xbox platforms. PlayStation Plus is not required during Early Access or the Open Beta, but will be required to access multiplayer features at launch on PlayStation systems.
Source: Blizzard