Diablo 3 Midnight Launch Events Detailed

On the eve of Diablo 3's release, Blizzard will be hosting several launch events throughout the world. Here in the United States, the official launch party will take place at Big Wheel Court in the Irvine Spectrum Mall in Irvine, California.

The US launch event will kick off at May 14th at 8pm PDT. It'll run until midnight PDT. At that point, everyone will get their slimy little mitts on the game and retire to their homes, never to be seen again.

The event, sponsored by Intel and GameStop, will be attended by Blizzard employees. The development team will be on hand to sign your copy of the game. The usual gang of cosplayers will be in attendance as well.

The first person in line to buy the game will get a few prizes. If you don't feel like camping out, though, you can still win some freebies. Drawings will be held every hour of the event. T-shirts, posters, and Intel desktop PCs are a few of the prizes up for grabs.

Additional launch parties will be held in Taiwan, Poland, Germany, and several other countries across the globe. You can find out more details about those events by visiting Blizzard's website.

If you have zero desire to wait in line for the game, note that you'll be able to purchase D3 digitally through the Blizzard Store. The game should unlock as soon as it's available in retailers. If you're a World of Warcraft player, you can buy an Annual Pass to that game and get a free digital copy of D3 as well. The Annual Pass will only be available for a few more days, though.