Question
Is it possible to download and install Diablo III before purchasing a license; either online from Blizzard, another retailer, or a physical box with a paper slip with magic numbers on it?
Answer
In Theory
The most secure and legal way to download Diablo III is through Blizzard Downloader. Pre-ordering a digital copy of Diablo III through Battle.Net allows you to pre-load game files before the release date.
What bonuses do I get for pre-ordering Diablo III?
The benefit for players who pre-order Diablo III is that they will have the ability to download and pre-install Diablo III before the game launches. Players who have the game pre-installed will be able to jump straight into the game the moment Diablo III hits the shelves! Note: While these pre-sale copies of Diablo III may be downloaded and installed prior to the game’s release, the game itself will not be playable until Diablo III’s official launch date.
More info at Diablo III Presale Information.
If you will receive your key at 00:01 5/15/2012, you can register to your Battle.Net accout a second later and start downloading the client. Considering the number of copies the game will sold at Day 1 and that Blizzard downloader optionally uses P2P technology, your download should be hopefully fast.
In Practice
It seems that Blizzard has already "unofficially" released Diablo 3 downloaders. They allow you to pre-load the full setup (around 7 GB) on your PC without asking any credentials. Of course without a valid key these files are completely unusable, they will only work when Blizzard decides to make the game playable on servers through Battle.Net login authentication.
Blizzard Downloaders
Here are the downloaders so far available:
Attention - New Downloaders for English EU and German
We became aware of an issue affecting the previously available German and EU English versions of the digital install downloader for Diablo III, which would not download all the necessary files. If you've pre-downloaded the digital version of the game in these languages before 10:00 AM CEST (9:00 AM GMT) on Saturday May 12, you must obtain the new downloaders to be able to install properly once the game is released on May 15.
If you already have pre-installed Diablo 3 these are the instruction to avoid re-download all 7.6 GB:
- Obtain the new Diablo III digital downloader using the links below
- Point the download save at the same directory as before
- If you chose the correct directory only 50MB will need to be downloaded to fix your install, otherwise you'll re-download the entire ~7.6GB
New EU English Installer (PC) New EU English Installer (Mac) New German Installer (PC) New German Installer (Mac)
Using this installer is mandatory if you want to play at launch.
For Windows
- DIABLO III Retail (enUS – America)
DIABLO III Retail (EU – English)see top- DIABLO III Retail (EU – Italian)
- DIABLO III Retail (EU – French)
DIABLO III Retail (EU – German)see top- DIABLO III Retail (EU – Polish)
- DIABLO III Retail (EU – Spanish)
- DIABLO III Retail (Latin America – Portuguese)
- DIABLO III Retail (Latin America – Spanish)
- DIABLO III Retail (Korean)
- DIABLO III Retail (Taiwan)
For Mac
- DIABLO III Retail Mac version (enUS – America)
DIABLO III Retail Mac version (EU – English)see topDIABLO III Retail Mac version (EU – German)see top- DIABLO III Retail Mac version (EU – French)
Links above have been listed by Diablo IncGamers. Moderators on Blizzard official forum do not have any problems with them and they are already helping people have trouble with downloader so I consider "them safe to use".
Why?
IMHO it was not the initial Blizzard plan but probably they have thought to allow pre-loading as many people as possible to allow play them as soon as they unlock the gates for hell (it has also the advantage to reduce the probabilities to saturate and collapse Blizzard network infrastructure).
Check more discussion of this question.
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