Blizzard Entertainment

Rockstar Games' Max Payne 3 is the new number one in the UK all-formats chart, beating sales of 2003 predecessor Max Payne 2 by almost ten copies to one. More >

Indie developer Jeff Vogel has criticised Blizzard's insistence on maintaining a constant internet connection in order to play the game, saying it's "bad for PC/Mac gaming". Vogel's comments come in light of Diablo III's disastrous launch yesterday, in which server problems prevented anybody from playing it - even in single player. More >

Players who trade items with a Templar early in the game are met with Error 3006, which boots them out of Battle.net and leaves them unable to log back in. A post from Takralus, a member of Blizzard's community team, confirms that a fix is in the works. More >

To tide you over, our friends at PC Gamer are reviewing the game as it happens. Tom Francis' Diablo III review is a work in progress, updated after every hour of play - and yes, he's had the odd lag spike and a few random dropouts, just like the rest of you. More >

Shortly after the game's servers were switched on late last night, the complaints began, with players finding themselves unable to log in to, and therefore play, the game. Problems persisted past the login screen, with users experiencing problems with character creation and being arbitrarily logged out. More >

The deal, announced in a press release, means Valve holds the commercial rights to the Dota name. In February, Blizzard requested that the USPTO block Valve's application to trademark Dota, potentially threatening the scheduled release of Valve's long-awaited Dota 2, which is due this year. More >

Total net revenues were $1.17 billion (£728.5m), a drop of 19 per cent. Net income, or profit, fell by almost 24 per cent, to $384 million (£238.7m). Those declines, however, were not as severe as Activision had previously forecast, with revenue 21 per cent ahead of expectations. More >

Blizzard Entertainment says it is "really happy" with the monthly subscription model despite falling numbers of World Of Warcraft subscribers amid the meteoric rise of free-to-play. Speaking to our friends at PC Gamer, WOW producer John Lagrave insisted that Blizzard had no intention of switching its flagship MMOG to the freemium model, under which games are free-to-play and revenue comes from sales of virtual goods. More >

The long-awaited PC action-RPG Diablo III will be released on May 15, Blizzard Entertainment has announced. The news means Diablo III will finally be in PC gamers' hands just under four years after it was first announced, in June 2008. More >

World Of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that it is to lay off 600 staff. The cuts, which affect Blizzard's worldwide operations and mean a reduction in headcount of around 12 per cent - the company has 5,000 employees, according to VentureBeat - are largely in administration and sales, with Blizzard saying only 10 per cent of the planned layoffs affect its game development teams. More >

World Of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment is working on a free-to-play game, according to reports. A Develop source claims the studio is to embrace the increasingly popular business model, which makes money through microtransactions rather than monthly subscriptions. More >

Blizzard Entertainment has requested that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) block Valve's application for the Defense Of The Ancients (Dota) trademark. In its filing, Blizzard opposes the entire scope of Valve's filing, arguing that Dota, a mod of Blizzard's Warcraft III, has been "used exclusively by Blizzard and its fan community" for seven years, and that Valve's attempt to secure the mark ahead of the release of Dota 2, which is due this year, should be refused. More >

Along with the 2012 Battle.net World Championship eSports event taking place in Asia later in the year, Blizzard is also focused on putting the finishing touches to Diablo III, Mists Of Pandaria and Heart Of The Swarm. Blizzcon will make a return next year, however. More >

Parker made his announcement on Twitter, writing: "Hey Twitter, I'm no longer working at Blizzard or on D3. I've had a great 5 years there and those guys are going to kill it with Diablo." More >