There was a lot of buzz on the Web last week about a possible PC Gamer Magazine exclusive for its August issue revealing the long-awaited Diablo 3. But the magazine has officially debunked the rumor, much to the disappointment of Diablo fans who had been reading the tea leaves and hoping for an earth-shattering announcement from Blizzard.

The rumor mill began to churn last week with a printed teaser in the July issue of PC Gamer stating that the entire staff has a secret so hush-hush that they're doing the pee-pee dance just to keep from bursting. The teaser block also pictures some dude roped to a chair with electrical tape plastered over his mouth. Granted that the paragraph doesn't mention anything about Blizzard or Diablo, the line stating that it's a "top-secret story so huge we had to go to [CENSORED] to get it" is enough to get anyone cranked up with theories. Just replace the word "censored" with "hell" and you know how this rumor sparked the hellish Diablo flame. Many forums, particularly Diablofans.com, were soon ablaze with theories that PC Gamer would be announcing that Diablo 3 was in the works.

It didn't help, of course, that Diablofans.com formerly used the domain address Diablo3.com - until Blizzard recently bought the Diablo3.com name weeks ago from the fan site. "Well, there's no point in beating around the bush any longer, so let's get right down to it, reports Diablofans.com. "A few months ago, we were contacted by Blizzard in regards to the Diablo3.com domain name. While they appreciate all the work that's been put into running this big Diablo fan community over the years, they still want the domain name. Hmm, I wonder why? Now before you get all up in arms about it, allow me to explain a few things..." The site goes on to state that Blizzard expressed to them that the domain purchase wasn't an official announcement, but that "they acquire new domain names all the time."

What also doesn't help the rumor mill is that Blizzard lists over 20 jobs on its Employment Opportunities section, some of which lists for an un-named "next-generation massively multiplayer game." We've known for some time that Blizzard is working on a top secret non-WarCraft MMO for some time, and many adoring Blizzard fans have speculated it could be either Diablo 3 or even a resurrected StarCraft: Ghost. Even author Richard A. Knaak, who has written several Diablo-related novels, dropped a hint back in a 2006 Blizzplanet interview stating that he wasn't writing novels for a dead world, and that the Diablo universe would eventually make a return. "What happens in the Sin War is significant, as I mentioned, toward the future," he told Blizzplanet. "I know that Blizzard is very eager to make Diablo fans happy."

But there's one final, worthy note to mention: the Blizzard's 2008 Worldwide Invitational takes place in Paris, France on June 28-29. Die-hard Diablo fans know the significance of June 29th: that was the date Diablo II shipped in North America back in 2000. That is also the date the Lord of Destruction expansion shipped in Europe back in 2001. Even StarCraft II was announced at last year's Worldwide event.

Nevertheless, PC Gamer Magazine officially debunked the rumor last week by declaring that the big announcement for the August issue was not Blizzard related. "Sorry to get your hopes up, but we can officially deny that Diablo is on our cover next month. We're announcing something big and exciting and exclusive (actually, there are two big exciting exclusive announcements in this issue!), and we had to go a long way to get it, but it's not from Blizzard." said Dan Stapleton, senior associate editor of PC Gamer Magazine, in a statement to Diablofans.com.

Whether Blizzard officially reveals or doesn't reveal Diablo 3 at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational event this summer, the fact is that the original Diablo team moved on to branch out and form another development studio, Flagship. Unfortunately, Flagship's Diablo-esque Hellgate: London didn't fare as well as expected and was plagued by instability issues (check out the Tom's Games' review of Hellgate: London). Would the third installment of Diablo live up to its predecessors, and with the current state of technology level of graphical detail, would a new Diablo title be able to keep its original atmosphere? Will Blizzard move the franchise into the MMO realm? These are questions fans are already asking, but one's they've asked for quite a while.

With all that said, Blizzard took notice of the heated speculation and emailed Shacknews with a response after the site's inquiry: "We definitely appreciate that the community has a lot of interest in seeing the Diablo series continue, and we certainly share that desire. For now, though, our focus remains on StarCraft II and Wrath of the Lich King. I'm afraid I don't have any new plans to announce at this time."

Look for PC Gamer's super-secret exclusive finally exposed in the August issue (which will actually come out in July), published just in time for Blizzard's international show. Until then, expect the rumor mill to churn the Diablo soup of rumors until someone decides to cough up the real story.

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