The expected start of Season 22 in Diablo 3 seems to be further away than previously thought. Blizzard has now commented on the matter.
What is it about? Currently, Diablo 3 Season 21 is underway, which started on July 3. Generally, a season lasts about three months and then concludes. Therefore, the dates at the end of September and beginning of October are plausible.
However, a statement from the community manager now makes it quite clear that the start of a new season will probably be delayed.
This is what Blizzard says: Community Manager PezRadar spoke up in the official Blizzard forum. In response to the question of when the patch notes for the PTR (Blizzard’s test server) for Season 22 will appear, he revealed: “The PTR is still a bit further away” (via forums.blizzard.com).
PezRadar did not disclose an exact date or duration. Blizzard has given up on announcing anticipated end dates for seasons for this reason:
We no longer provide an estimated time for the end of seasons. However, seasons should last approximately three months (sometimes longer or shorter depending on development needs), and we will notify you at least two weeks before the end of a season.
Source: Diablo3.com
It is quite possible that a larger patch is being prepared for the PTR that should present a satisfying seasonal theme. Each new season in Diablo 3 has a specific theme that is supposed to make the chapter unique and interesting. However, there were issues with this in S21:
- The seasonal theme of S21 in Diablo 3 was super annoying at first
- What players thought was an exploit regarding the seasonal theme, was actually intended by Blizzard
Is Blizzard then taking more time for Season 22 to test the theme thoroughly?
When could Season 22 start in Diablo 3?
This is how it has gone so far: With few exceptions, Blizzard has adhered to its 3-month plan. The past seasons in Diablo 3 looked like this:
- Season 20 started on March 13 and lasted until June 21, 2020.
- Season 19 started on November 22, 2019, and lasted until March 1, 2020
- Season 18 started on August 23, 2019, and ended on November 10, 2019
- Season 17 started on May 17, 2019, and ended on August 18, 2019
- Season 16 started on January 18, 2019, and was supposed to end on March 17. However, it ended on May 12, 2019
The last two seasons, 19 and 20, lasted exactly 100 days. You can probably continue to battle in the rankings with the best classes of Season 21 for a while longer.
When could Season 22 start? Blizzard indicated in August that the current season would run a bit longer and that they would keep the next PTR cycle alive longer. From now on, they would like to give each season more time for testing – players then have 2 weeks. Additionally, there is about a week to process player feedback in the patch and implement changes.
Regularly, Season 21 should end around October 3. Then follow test phases for the new patch. Based on current knowledge, the start of Season 22 in Diablo 3 can be expected at the earliest in the second half of October. Possible dates are
- October 23
- October 30
- November 6
- and November 13
However, these are just speculations for now. We are waiting for Blizzard to comment in more detail about the future of Diablo 3.
In the rankings of Diablo 3, there is currently a close fight for 1st place.
