Diablo 4 open beta start time, end date and access explained

Official Release Diablo 4 on June 6 is still a few months away, but players will be able to preview the battle against Lilith’s minions during two open beta weekends in March.

Now we’re onto the second weekend, here’s what you need to do to access the Diablo 4Beta, inclusive of start and finish times.

Is Diablo 4 beta open?

Diablo 4’s beta is now onto its second weekend, where it will be free to access for all players on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

The Diablo 4 Open beta starts atFriday, March 24,Here are some examples:

• 9:00 a.m. PDTFor the West Coast of North America
• 12:01 p.m. Eastern TimeNorth America’s east coast
• CET, 5:05 p.m.For western Europe/Paris
• GMT: 4 PMThe U.K.
• Samstag, March 25th at 1 AM JST Japan/Tokyo

Image: Blizzard

Something to note is developer Blizzard has said players can expect “lengthy queue times”, particularly on the first day of the open beta launching.

This is what beta testing looks like, despite how frustrating it might seem. Developers benefit from having large numbers of users to test their servers in order to make the launch run more smoothly. As part of that, Blizzard has said it may “take the game offline temporarily to deploy infrastructure adjustments or fixes” as the weekend goes on.

It is a good idea to give yourself some time to participate in this weekend’s beta. We advise you to not expect quick access to Friday, especially. With that in mind — how long do you have with this beta?

What time does Diablo 4’s open beta close?

If you’re planning ahead with how much time you’ll have with the open beta, it has the following end times on Monday, March 27, 2007

• 12:01 a.m. EDTFor the West Coast of North America
• 3:00 p.m. Eastern TimeNorth America’s east coast
• 9:00 p.m. CESTFor western Europe/Paris
• 8:15 p.m.The U.K.
• 4.30 a.m. JST Saturday, March 25 Japan/Tokyo

Note the clocks changing in Europe from Sunday will mean the end time will be forward by one hour compared to the first weekend’s beta test end times.

How to access Diablo 4’s open beta

All platforms are eligible to have open and free access for the second beta weekend, March 24-27.

The only caveat is you need to sign in with your Battle.net account — as per the first beta weekend — so you’ll need one of those if you don’t have one already.

How does access to the beta weekend work? You can access the first beta weekend if you ordered the game digitally. Pre-ordered it elsewhere and you were granted an early access code

Diablo gamers who hesitated to order the entire game in advance could opt for another option. get a beta code through KFC. Yes, they chicken-people. Through March 18, customers in the U.S. who order the fast-food chain’s Double Down sandwich (or any “eligible sandwich”) through KFC’s website or the KFC app received a code for early beta access to Diablo 4.

What’s in the Diablo 4 open beta?

Early access and open beta players will have access to the entire first act and the prologue in Fractured Peaks. There will also be a World Boss available to take on at “select times” during both weekends. They are extremely tough bosses and will need multiple players to defeat.

During the beta, there will be two co-op options. There are two options for co-op: a 2-player couch or 4-player online. For couch co-op during the early access weekend, only one player needs to have pre-ordered (but both need Battle.net accounts linked to accounts on whatever platform you’re playing on). Online co-op will be available during early access weekends. All four participants must have pre-ordered.

During the early access weekend, your character will be limited to three of the full game’s five classes — Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorcerer. The final two classes — Druid and Necromancer — will open up during the open beta weekend. Your characters are capped at Level 25, but you’ll be able to create up to 10 characters per Battle.net account.

Is Diablo 4’s progress transferable to the complete game?

Progress will carry over from the early access weekend to the open beta weekend, but overall beta progress won’t carry over to the full game — in fact, the characters will be deleted once the open beta is over.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

However, there are three rewards for open beta that you can keep when the full game launches. These rewards are:

• Name of the Initial CasualtyEarned by reaching Kyovashad using one character
• Voyager Early TitleEarned by reaching level 20 with one character
• Beta Wolf Pack Cosmetic Product:Earned by reaching level 20 with one character

Update, February 28, 2008: This article was revised to reflect information on timing, coop functionality, carry-over rewards, and other details.

Update (17 March 2017)The story was updated to include information on the KFC deal and note that there is no longer a KFC coupon. Diablo 4The beta weekend for early access is live.

Updated (March 24th)Additional details about the queue times and reformatting for specific times in different regions.