While some were lucky enough to get a taste of Diablo 4 during the game’s Early Access beta, everyone will soon be able to join the game’s open beta (no chicken sandwich required). Of course, it helps to know when Diablo 4‘s open beta actually begins and ends.
Diablo 4‘s open beta will start on March 24th at 9 am PDT (12 pm EDT, 4 pm GMT, and 5 pm CET). It will end on March 26 at 12 am PDT, 3 pm EDT, 7 pm GMT, and 8 pm CET. That unfortunately means that it’s a bit shorter than the Early Acess beta was. As noted above, though, the big advantage of this beta is that everyone will be able to participate in it. As long as you have a Battle.net account and a PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, or PC, you’ll be able to try Diablo 4 for yourself.
If you need a little more information about when Diablo 4‘s open beta goes live in your time zone, here’s a handy map that the D4 team has put together:
You can even preload the Diablo 4 open beta starting today. Xbox and PlayStation owners should look for “Diablo 4 Open Beta” via their platform stores, while PC gamers can start preloading the beta via the D4 icon in the Battle.net launcher (just be sure to choose the “Beta” option from the game’s dropdown menu). Of course, anyone who previously downloaded the beta for the Early Access period should still have it downloaded (and the beta will retain your progress). Just be sure to keep the version of the beta you previously downloaded properly updated.
A massive influx of new players isn’t the only new thing that you’ll find in Diablo 4‘s open beta, though. The upcoming public test period will also introduce the two classes not featured in the Early Access beta: the Necromancer and Druid. While you’ll still only be able to level those classes up to level 25 (the beta’s level cap), you will be able to access every aspect of those classes that you would normally be able to access up until that level cap.
Otherwise, the open beta will include all of the major content that the Early Access beta featured. That means that you’ll be able to battle the world boss Ashava, collect various rewards, and experience most of Diablo 4‘s first act (including all dungeons, side quests, and bosses). It’s a pretty substantial preview, and you can certainly spend most of your weekend trying to see most of it and experimenting with the five available classes. You will not be hurting for things to do.
Of course, that does assume you’ll actually be able to spend the whole weekend playing the beta. While everyone can technically access Diablo 4‘s upcoming open beta, that open beta will undoubtedly be impacted by the server queues and connection problems that plagued the Early Access beta. It seems like the Diablo 4 team has improved the game’s servers since the Early Access beta launched, but it remains to be seen whether or not they’ve been improved enough to withstand the sudden appearance of so many more players.
Regardless, Diablo 4 is certainly a good time. The game improves upon Diablo 3 and Diablo Immortal in some pretty notable ways, though questions remain about the future of its MMO elements. Even still, you should absolutely try the beta if you get the chance to do so.