10 Rare Video Games That Survived Development Hell
4. Diablo III - 11 Years
After the staggering success of 2000's Diablo II, Blizzard North got cracking on the sequel the following year. Because the first two instalments were assembled very quickly, it looked like gamers wouldn't have to wait long for this devilish threequel.
However, Diablo III had such a troublesome production, Blizzard didn't officially announce it for eight years. And when World of Warcraft took the MMORPG community by storm, it became Blizzard's top priority, pushing Diablo III on the back-burner.
Blizzard's owner, Vivendi, believed the project wasn't up to standards, which inspired 30 Blizzard North members to leave and start their own company. Blizzard North was closed down two months later, forcing Blizzard Entertainment to take over.
But Diablo III wasn't out of the woods yet. The game's aesthetic was drastically changed three times, delaying it further. The external beta testing ran into various issues, stretching out development even more.
When Diablo III was finally released, it required a ton of patches before it was considered playable. Ironically, it's the only entry on this list which would've benefitted by being delayed a bit longer.