Diablo III Loses Senior Producer
Steve Parker, Senior Producer of
Diablo III, announced his departure from Blizzard via Twitter. He stated on his account, “Hey Twitter, I’m no longer working at Blizzard or on D3. I’ve had a great 5 years there and those guys are going to do an amazing job with Diablo.”
Parker’s announcement comes as a shock with
Diablo III getting close to its “early 2012” release date. Reasons for his departure and his plans for the future are unknown, but there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between him and the Diablo team. According to Blizzard’s website job listings, the company is looking for a new senior producer.
The loss of Parker doesn’t necessarily mean the game's development has been set back, but the director, Jay Wilson, posted a blog that hinted at a later release date. “Our job isn’t just to put out a game,” wrote Wilson. “It’s to release the next Diablo game.”
Rumors of a February 1 release date were recently put to rest by Blizzard’s Community Manager, Micah Whipple. The rumor was started when a fan posted a photo on Twitter of a Best Buy sign in Rochester, Minnesota that listed the games release date for February. "Diablo III does not have a release date,” said Whipple. “Any store or person claiming otherwise is guessing."