There have been some rumours floating around for the last couple of weeks that Blizzard were planning to announce Diablo IV at Blizzcon this year. Similar rumours abounded last year, before an announcement was reportedly pulled, leaving only the announcement of the mobile-exclusive Diablo Immortal. A whole bunch of negative publicity followed, and it certainly wasn’t helped by Blizzard’s penalties and banning of a Hearthstone player who used a tournament sanctioned interview to spread the message on the ongoing battle for freedom in Hong Kong. Following a formal apology from Blizzard President J. Allen Brack on how they handled that situation, Blizzard confirmed the rumours and leaks by officially confirming Diablo IV for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Diablo IV will avoid the more colourful and cartoonish style of its predecessor — a style which led to much online chagrin from long-time Diablo fans when first shown — and return to the darker and more gruesome style reminiscent of Diablo and Diablo 2. With more detailed environments, a muted colour pallet and some frankly gross looking enemies, Diablo IV looks to be closer to the game people expected prior to the official reveal of Diablo 3. The changes don’t stop there, with the official gameplay trailer also showing off some new traversal mechanics, including mounts, that look to make the open-world of Diablo IV much more fun to cross. Yes, you read that right, Blizzard have also confirmed that the world of Diablo IV will be a ‘contiguous, seamless landmass comprising diverse regions’, so we are theoretically looking at an open-environment devoid of load-screens, although I would still expect loads into dungeons and other similar areas.
Three characters have been announced so far for Diablo IV, with series stalwarts the Sorceress and Barbarian returning, as well as the re-introduction of the Druid which wasn’t sighted in Diablo 3. The Mage will focus on ice, lightning and fire spells, the Druid on unique Shapeshifting abilities along with some elemental spells, while the Barbarian will continue to be our favourite melee-destroyer-of-everything-in-sight. Co-op is also returning from Diablo 3, so get ready to jump into the game with some friends, although Blizzard have yet to discuss if cross-play will be involved.
This is where the good news ends, though, with Blizzard later confirming during a Blizzcon panel that while they had announced Diablo IV today, that they ‘are not coming anytime soon, not even Blizzard soon.’ The sentiment from a statement like that seems to imply at least a 2-3 year wait, so don’t be surprised if we see the release platforms for the game shift over the next-generation platforms prior to release.
While you wait for further information and a more concrete release window, check out the gameplay trailer below.
