Diablo III Gets A Release Date

May 15, 2012. On that date, you can go to hell all over again, because that’s the day the highly-anticipated Diablo III will be available to consumers. With that in mind, you and the rest of your raiding party should be preparing for your trip to Hell, because if the previews are accurate, it won’t be an easy journey.

Especially if you’re planning on playing the “Nightmare” setting:

Let’s not forget about the “Inferno” setting, either.

Over at the official Diablo III website, the details of the release are as follows:

Beginning May 15, players around the world will be able to return to Tristram to discover the dark secrets of a fallen star and begin their quest to save Sanctuary from the impending demonic invasion. To secure your place as a barbarian, monk, demon hunter, witch doctor, or wizard right now, simply log in to your Battle.net account, and then purchase and download* Diablo III, and you’ll be ready to play when the game launches.

World of Warcraft players interested in getting Diablo III for free can still get in on the World of Warcraft Annual Pass, but the promotion will be ending at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 1, 2012. When you sign up for the Annual Pass and make a 1-year commitment to World of Warcraft, you’ll receive a free digital copy of Diablo III…

As indicated, the game is already available for pre-purchase–via Battle.net–and, in fact, when the transaction is complete, consumers who buy early will be allowed to download an “encrypted version of the game that will be unlocked upon release on May 15.”

With that in mind, how long until someone circumvents the encryption and posts full gameplay videos?

As with anything popular, the Diablo III release date announcement sparked its own Twitter trend. Apparently, the masses are pleased:

That looks like something of a consensus. To tide you over until May 15, here’s the first 20 minutes of gameplay, all YouTube’d up for your enjoyment: