Diablo III’s lead designer Jay Wilson has revealed that the PvP modes (versus) shown off will not be in the initial release of Diablo III. This content will be released at a yet unannounced date as a patch.

“As we’re counting down the days until we’re ready to announce a release date for Diablo III, we’ve come to realize that the PvP game and systems aren’t yet living up to our standards,” he said.

“Today, we wanted to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision to hold back the PvP Arena system and release it in a patch following the game’s launch. After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who’s waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete.”

“We know a lot of you are looking forward to PvP, and we’ll be focusing our post-launch efforts on making sure the Arenas are as brutal, bloody, fast-paced, and awesome as we know they can be. In the meantime, we’re in the process of putting the finishing touches on what we think is a truly epic campaign and co-op experience for launch.”

Diablo III can’t come soon enough. It seems like a decade has passed since the game was originally announced. I for one am looking forward to meeting up and partying with Deckard Cain again.