Following the numerous complaints relating to server issues that surfaced during the launch of Diablo 3 on Tuesday, May 15, Blizzard - the developer - has publicly apologized to fans on its forums. Error messages prevented gamers from logging in, or creating a character.

The post was made on behalf of Blizzard on the official Diablo 3 forums. Posted three hours ago, Blizzard said servers continued to go down post-launch despite Blizzard's anticipation of the demand.

"[...] As many of you are aware, technical issues occurring within hours after the game's launch led to players experiencing error messages and difficulty logging in. These issues cropped up again last night for the Americas and Europe servers. Despite very aggressive projections, our preparation for the launch of the game did not go far enough," the company admitted.

Blizzard added that servers are being monitored "24/7" and "several optimizations" have been applied. "As of late last night, specifically, 11:50 PM PDT on May 15, all systems have been online and running relatively smoothly," Blizzard also said. There will be additional maintenance to improve the servers of each region.

Among the error messages was a 3003 error, which didn't allow users to log in. The servers continued to go down even after Blizzard's initial fix, affecting gamers along with the press: review copies are gained alongside the release date, so reviews will probably arrive later than expected.

Diablo 3 is an action role-playing game, and includes hack and slash and dungeon crawler elements. It's built around collecting loot, played from viewpoint similar - but not identical - to an isometric viewpoint.

The launch of the Auction House has been revised, originally scheduled for May 22. Blizzard said more news on that feature will come soon.

Regarding one specific server issue - achievements not being issued or saved between multiple logins - Blizzard said it is "investigating this issue and will provide an update as soon as possible."

Players can visit the Battle.net Support Web site or the Support forum if experiencing problems with Diablo 3. Users on the forums expressed frustration because of the downtime, particularly because the $60 cost had been paid and the client downloaded.