Diablo 3 Starter Edition Leaked Through Beta

Not usually one for slip-ups, it seems even Blizzard Entertainment is a developer comprised of humans after plans to launch a ‘Starter Edition’ of Diablo 3 were accidentally revealed in the current beta.

The gaffe occurred when Battle.net account holders were suddenly allowed beta access without requiring a beta key, something that was otherwise a prerequisite. What was then discovered upon further investigation was a version of the game that offered “UPGRADE buttons” which seemed to ask for payment in order to access further features, with notices displayed for some features that were “unavailable in the Starter Edition of Diablo 3″.

Of course, this is nothing out of the ordinary for the developer and it certainly makes sense, since a similar free-to-play style has already been implemented with the company’s other recent release — I lol’d too — StarCraft II: Wing of Liberty.

For now though, the Diablo 3 beta servers have been taken offline in order “to resolve an issue affecting the beta accessibility.”

May 1st will be the last day that the beta runs, in any case, ahead of the May 15th release of the full game.

Now, I’m all for accidental leaks and unintentional screw-ups by developers since it makes for interesting news but sometimes one cannot help but wonder; was this a legit error, or is this some sort of ingenious marketing strategy straight out of the Activision handbook?