Those hoping for an early start in slaying the Succubi Queen have had to wait longer than expected as many players logged into the Diablo 4 beta servers today only to discover lengthy queues and error codes preventing them from to jump into the ARPG.
Today begins the Early Access Beta, available to those who pre-ordered the full game or received a code by eating Kentucky Fried Chicken, while next weekend welcomes all who begin their adventures early in the Open Beta would like.
Diablo 4: December 2022 screenshots
But many players were greeted with long waiting times when logging into the server, error codes and other problems.
While facing wait times of over an hour, players took the opportunity to warn their fellow demon slayers and shed some light on the situation.
To everyone waiting for the Diablo 4 beta servers/queue to stabilize:
The queue will soon be cleared once everyone who got from eating KFC Beta spends hours going to the bathroom pic.twitter.com/5CVbm4QL3Z – Ted Bacinschi (@Slootbag) March 17, 2023
The overloaded servers and long waiting times continued into the afternoon. The official Diablo Twitter account recently commented on the issues, saying, “We are aware of the issues impacting the Open Beta Early Access, resulting in long wait times and server disruptions. Complete fix for the connectivity issues.”
Players can track known issues and fixes on Blizzard’s website.
We are aware of the issues impacting Open Beta Early Access, causing long wait times and server disruptions.
The team is managing the rate of players entering the game until we have a full fix for the connection issues.
For more updates, visit: https://t.co/FmJb8FaIjC
— Diablo (@Diablo) March 17, 2023
Blizzard previously warned players to expect waiting times and that players should not leave the queue even if they are stuck in a waiting screen after the queue timer has expired:
“Users may encounter a queue when logging into Diablo IV during the early access beta weekend. Please note that the countdown may expire and exceed the duration specified in the queue timer. DO NOT exit the queue if as this will restart the queue. We need to have more accurate timers in place for the open beta weekend.”
In the meantime, the Blizzard forums have been overflowing with users posting their issues and frustrations, including a thread of console players being repeatedly booted after waiting the queue time.
Wait times and server issues aren’t new to betas, which are intended in part as stress tests before a full launch, especially for games as hotly anticipated as the next entry in Blizzard’s long-running ARPG franchise.
Still, waiting times never feel good. I hope the issues will clear up soon so I can start recruiting my undead necromancer army. For more information, see the first 17 minutes of the Diablo IV beta.
Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his coverage of games here.
