Diablo 3 PvP mode to arrive in post-launch patch

If you took all of the features that have been stripped out of the launch build of Diablo 3, you could bolt them together and create a new game entirely. A post on Battle.Net says that the player vs. player Arena mode will not be in Diablo 3 at launch. It'll be added in a patch afterwards when it's done.

The PvP mode will have "multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system that will help you and your team get into fairly matched games quickly and easily" once it's eventually finished, though there's no mention of how long we might have to wait beyond the Diablo 3 release date. According to Blizzard's predictions in a conference call earlier this year, it should be here before summer, shortly after hell freezes over.

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.