Italian gaming website MMORPGItalia has leaked that Activision Italy, a subsidiary of Blizzard Entertainment, revealed Diablo III’s April 17th release date to major Italian retailers to prepare for the huge volumes of units that will need to be shipped to retailers across Italy and the world.

Shortly following the leak, Amazon.it added the April 17th release date to the game, which is a fantasy role-playing game, the third in a series.

Gamers rejoiced, already Googling what near-fatal 72 hour-long ailments they would be afflicted with on that long-awaited Tuesday, so they could stay home and play the game without interruption.

Video games release dates are a tricky thing, especially when it comes to Blizzard games. One of the world’s most popular game developers, Blizzard often chooses to announce the release dates of their games only a month or so in advance. For those gamers who have to submit vacation requests early or plan on contracting an “illness,” the time between announcements and actually releases leaves little room for planning.

And with a game like Diablo III, a release that many have been waiting 10 years for, the potential number of sick days or vacation time needed could take months of planning and careful crafting.

With release date rumors being a topic Blizzard is well versed in, the company has no problem debunking speculation as to the release of their games. However, in this particular instance, Blizzard Game Director Jay Wilson, the project lead for Diablo III, stated that he could neither confirm nor deny the release date rumors for the game.

“@BenBrown68 I cannot debunk or confirm,” he said through his twitter account @Angryrobotics.

For the final say on when the game is going to be launched, many are looking towards the San Francisco Game Developers Conference. In the past, Blizzard has preferred to announce release dates at conferences and conventions.

On April 17th, I’ll be calling in complaining that my gout is acting up and that I’m in incredible pain. What are you going to come down with?

