Is Diablo III Coming Out February 1? Best Buy Seems Pretty Sure [Update]

According to an elaborate display that popped up at a Best Buy in Rochester, Minnesota, Blizzard’s eagerly-anticipated third entry in the Diablo series is hitting stores in a little over three weeks. Yikes.

Joystiq snagged a photo of the display in question after a Canadian Twitter user noticed it while on a shopping trip to Minnesota. The display advertises a midnight launch for Diablo III on February 1, along with a digital countdown timer. That’s not the sort of ad you put up on a lark. That takes the guys from electronics helping out, maybe even some really expensive cables.

Joystiq also notes that Best Buy’s website lists the game for a February 1 release as well, while UK retailer Gameplay has the game set for February 3, which would coincide with the UK’s odd fascination with Friday game releases.

We’ve reached out to Blizzard for date confirmation, as has everyone that ever had a gaming website on the internet. Should we receive confirmation, we’ll let you know.

I kind of hope this isn’t true, if only because I’ll be busy with Final Fantasy XIII-2 on the 31 of January and hate to think I’ll need to immediately stop playing it the next day. Because I totally would.

Update: Several folks in comments are calling this a Photoshop. Note that Joystiq said they had contacted the retail location and verified the sign’s existence.

Update, Sunday 5:10 p.m. Micah Whipple, the Diablo III community manager says that rumors the game will suddenly release on Feb. 1 are false. “Diablo III does not have a release date, Whipple said via Twitter about an hour ago. “Any store or person claiming otherwise is guessing.”

Best Buy thinks Diablo 3 is coming out on February 1, 2012 [Joystiq]