Diablo 4 executive producer Gavian Whishaw has revealed that Blizzard would like future games in the series to be released faster going forward. The Diablo series has been around for nearly 30 years, and in that time, Blizzard has released just five new games, plus a remake of the second in the series. Of those titles, only four are mainline releases, and there have often been significant gaps between Diablo titles.
Over the last three decades, the Diablo series has enjoyed incredible longevity and become a staple franchise for Blizzard. Diablo 4 is the latest game in the series, released in 2023 to critical and commercial success. Part of what makes Diablo so special is its extensive post-launch support. Blizzard has mastered the seasonal content model, adding new seasons to the game every few months featuring unique gameplay mechanics that bring players back for more. Over two and a half years after its launch, Diablo 4 Season 11 is ongoing and with a new expansion on the way in April, the game is arguably in its best-ever state.
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Blizzard Wants Future Diablo Games To Be Released Quicker
Speaking to Variety about the possibility of any new Diablo game announcement at BlizzCon later this year, Diablo 4 executive producer Gavian Whishaw had plenty to say. "It's kind of complicated when you're talking about titles that have been around for 20 years and people are still dedicated to and still playing and still going to get excited about new content," Whishaw explained. "I'll say at a high level, I think over 30 years of Diablo, we've done five titles. So I would hope that over the next 30 years we do a few more than that, maybe we get some out faster." Although Whishaw doesn't confirm anything either way regarding BlizzCon, his comments do indicate that the studio has a desire to speed up Diablo development going forward. Former Diablo boss Rod Fergusson spoke about a 10-year roadmap for the franchise last year, but it's possible that it is now looking even beyond that.
Realistically, it makes sense that Blizzard may be hoping to increase its Diablo output when compared to the series' past. In 29 years starting with the original Diablo, there have been four mainline games, as well as the mobile title Diablo Immortal. The first two games had a gap of just three years, between 1997 and 2000. That isn't too bad. But between Diablo 2 and 3, that wait extended to 12 years, with the latter emerging from development hell in 2012. Diablo 3 to 4 wasn't much better - gamers had to wait another 11 years, finally launching in 2024. That means Diablo fans have twice had to wait over a decade for a new mainline game in the series, which is far from ideal.
I think over 30 years of Diablo, we've done five titles. So I would hope that over the next 30 years we do a few more than that.
While getting new Diablo games more frequently has obvious upsides, there are arguments against this approach worth considering. Some might argue that the new releases would be smaller as a result of launching more often. Post-launch support could be impacted by this, too. Diablo games are often at their best a few years post-release, as a result of the time and effort put into refining the experience. With more regular releases, there's no guarantee they'd be supported with so many resources for so long. And if this all led to more aggressive monetization in Diablo, then it's unlikely players would be too happy regardless of how quickly the games come out.
Right now, there's no indication of when Blizzard plans to talk about a new Diablo game, and it's not clear whether the studio will actually realize Whishaw's comments about the speed of future development. For now, at least publicly, Blizzard is focused on the development of Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred DLC, which is set to add two new classes to the popular action RPG.
Diablo 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
