Diablo IV entered its early access phase for players who pre-ordered, but a wave of technical glitches from Blizzard dampened the experience for many. The issues appeared as soon as the closed beta opened on March 17 at 19:00 Moscow time, with players reporting that they could not connect to Diablo IV servers at all. The project’s website commonly displayed a stubborn error message: “The game cannot be started at this time,” signaling server-side or authentication hiccups that prevented launch even for those who had secured a pre-order slot (Blizzard Entertainment).
When some players managed to establish a connection, they faced another hurdle: queues. Rather than slipping straight into the action, they found themselves waiting in line for access to the game client. In several cases, a countdown timer appeared, suggesting a session start time, yet the clock often expired without letting them in. This mismatch between the timer and actual server readiness created a sense of frustration and confusion among the community, especially for fans who had anticipated the experience since pre-ordering (Blizzard Entertainment).
Blizzard publicly acknowledged the possibility of queues during Early Access and urged players to stay in line rather than abandoning it. The company warned that the countdown on the screen could finish and even go beyond the displayed time, and leaving the queue could restart the process. The guidance aimed to maintain orderly access as servers balanced demand with capacity, a challenge common to high-profile beta events (Blizzard Entertainment).
Social media footage and reports mapped a varied experience across regions and platforms. In some instances, waiting times stretched to two hours or more, with players documenting long lines and intermittent connection stability. The inconsistency underscored the growing pressure on Blizzard’s infrastructure as thousands of pre-order customers sought to preview the game ahead of its full launch (Blizzard Entertainment).
Industry outlets and fan sites covered the beta rollout, noting that the Russian-language translation and localization updates were part of Blizzard’s broader efforts to engage a diverse audience. While some regional communities benefited from immediate access, others faced the same connectivity problems that slowed launch momentum. Overall, the beta served as a stress test for the server architecture and the user experience, highlighting both the enthusiasm of dedicated players and the technical hurdles that can accompany early access events (Blizzard Entertainment).