As the silence seems to make way to occasional news about Diablo 4, I thought it would be good to have a thread that offers everything in one place. I'll add stuff to it in reverse chronological order, so the most recent info is always to be found at the top. If there's anything I'm missing, just reply to this thread and I'll add it.
June 20, 2019: Diablo 4 allegedly shown to Blizzard France employees
Source: LeMonde (french). Article talks more about the internal struggle after the massive layoffs, no new gameplay insight.
June 6, 2019: StarCraft FPS cancelled, focus on developing Diablo 4
Source: Kotaku. A first person shooter in the StarCraft universe was cancelled to shift more development onto Diablo 4 and a Left 4 Dead-style Overwatch 2. Blizzard took the time for an official response, semi-confirming it.
November 21, 2018: Diablo 4 internally first codenamed "Hades", then "Fenris"
Team 3 (Diablo team) was going to start the development of the second expansion of Diablo 3 after the release of Reaper of Souls, but they
received the order to stop. It really surprised them because RoS recovered some of the lost faith of the players in the franchise and they have a few things planned.
Seems weird because after all, D3 and ROS are successful games.
Team 3 was scattered. Some people went ot other franchises.
Project Hades: They were asked to start Diablo IV development immediately. They didnt understood the reasons: they didnt wait to look the
performance of RoS in the following months. Maybe they considered that Diablo III was already a failure and RoS was a good moment to leave
everything in a well manner.
Diablo 4 has some development. The idea was a third person Dark Souls Style game.
The change in style was so big, they started to think if it was ok to call it Diablo 4.
However it was cancelled and rebooted in 2016. They dont know if it was because Mosqueira left the company in the same year. Mosqueira denied to declare for this article.
The Rise of the Necromancer was a way to appease the fans.
‘Man, if we had just done that second expansion instead of losing half the team as a result of the cancellation, and then all of the
personnel changes, management changes, then this walk down the road of Hades… If we hadn’t done any of that and had just focused on doing a solid third act for Diablo, it’d be out by now.’”
Project Fenris: Diablo IV reboot
Really early in development.
"They want to make this gross, make it dark, [get rid of] anything that was considered cartoony in Diablo III… Make what people were afraid of in Diablo II, but modern."
Principles: embrace the Darkness and More social.
More social? Hub cities and instanced dungeons.
Team feels enthusiastic and optimistic for the new concept, however it wont see some light until 2020. They want to announce it with a playable demo.
Isometric camera angle game...for now. They are not sure.
The team expected and announcement and teaser this year or during Blizzcon. Blizzard heads changed their minds. Blizzards other department
and Blizzcon planner said there wasnt going to be a Diablo 4 announcement. Lack of communication.
They didnt talk about how to monetize it. Blizzard looks to the example of HS and OW.
(Below: posts before or just shortly after Blizzcon that do not directly hint at "news".)
Nevalistis: "Since the moment we stepped into the office on Monday, we have been discussing everything Diablo non-stop. We’re fully committed to listening and engaging—so please keep the constructive feedback coming. Our primary focus right now is poring over that feedback to inform internal discussions, and we’ll follow up with further thoughts as soon as we can."
"We continue to read feedback and our internal discussions are ongoing. We have many plans for Diablo across multiple projects which we’ll be revealing over the course of the coming year. We are eager to share more about all of our projects, but some will have to wait as we prefer to show you, rather than tell you, about them. It's going to take some time as we strive to meet your expectations, but now, more than ever, we are committed to delivering Diablo experiences the community can be proud of.
- The Diablo Teams -"
August 8, 2018: Multiple Diablo projects in the works
Nevalistis: [...] We’d also like to let you know that the forges here at Blizzard are burning hot. And we have multiple Diablo projects in the works. Some of them are going to take longer than others. But we may have some things to show you later this year. We hope you stay tuned, while we work to bring these Diablo experiences to life. None of this would be possible without the support that you have shown us for over 20 years.
So whether you first joined us in Diablo 3 or you are a seasoned veteran, thank you. Diablo is, and always will be, part of Blizzard’s identity, and we can’t wait for the future.
Since the moment we stepped into the office on Monday, we have been discussing everything Diablo non-stop. We’re fully committed to listening and engaging—so please keep the constructive feedback coming. Our primary focus right now is poring over that feedback to inform internal discussions, and we’ll follow up with further thoughts as soon as we can.
August 8, 2018: Multiple Diablo projects in the works
Greetings heroes, I am community manager Brandy Camel, also known as Nevalistis.
On behalf of the Diablo team, welcome back to Sanctuary for our newest season. For those of you still rocking your heroes in Reaper of Souls, you might have noticed we did something a little bit different for Season 14: Themed Seasons. The Season of Greed is our first Themed Season and we plan to explore additional themes in the future.
We’d also like to let you know that the forges here at Blizzard are burning hot. And we have multiple Diablo projects in the works. Some of them are going to take longer than others. But we may have some things to show you later this year. We hope you stay tuned, while we work to bring these Diablo experiences to life. None of this would be possible without the support that you have shown us for over 20 years.
So whether you first joined us in Diablo 3 or you are a seasoned veteran, thank you. Diablo is, and always will be, part of Blizzard’s identity, and we can’t wait for the future.
Right now I really hope they don't mess up D4 and we receive a proper cARPG, the announcement date is not so big of a deal, although I enjoy the building up of the hype train, which for good or for bad started very early this year.
Not only all content should be solo doable, but they have to keep the interest of all groups of players in the game be it casual, regular, dedicated or competitive; as well as hardcore and SSF. We would derive the thread if we go more in depth into what D4 needs, but maybe a mod could split it if there is interest in such topic.
I am slowly starting to embrace the thought of getting Diablo 4 someday. I am not expecting it to be revealed in Bliizzcon 2019. It might, but I won't launch any false expectations. However, I am still wondering, what happened to those Druid clues? Were they really teasing it for D4 in D3? It's possible. But they also couldn't announce D3 Druid DLC at Blizcon 2018 as they released D3 Switch at the same time making it too soon for the new players (to pay for it). That leaves a small chance, Druid is still coming for the D3. At this point though, they might want to spare that class to D4. So... not expecting anything for D3 either. Someday... luckily I haven't burnt myself with D3 yet.
- a meaningful endgame outside timed rifts. Neither D2 nor D3 have this. D3 lacks endgame playable campaign and D2 lacked difficulty after Hell.
- Best case scenario: designers find an innovative way to prevent players looking up builds from the internet (preventing copy-paste leaderboards). (Very customized and unique builds, very unique drops).
- Runeword comeback
D4 needs to remain:
- Fluidity and smooth gameplay of D3
- Also single play possibility (not forced multiplay)
I prefer cartoon 3D than any 2D. Reason is gameplay suffers a lot due to 2D. UI can NOT ever be worse than D3 so from my pov I am not worried about these.
But botting may very well kill D4 for me quickly. Seriously, if they allow botting to interfere with the competition I am done with this IP as long as those don't you use bots, guys folks own it. It will be hard for me to leave the series I played most, but if they allow botting to ruin a third Diablo game, I am OUT.
D4 devs have to understand that botting needs to be killed by design when competition is involved.
Yes, but aren't those I mentioned also quite bad ?
I would hate HOTS looking Diablo 4.
Isn't HoTS using the SC2 engine though?
I doubt D4 will use the same engine as that.
As far as botting goes, they need to really find a way to control and stop it. I honestly don't think you'll be able to stop it 100% but they certainly have the money and manpower to come up with a way to stop or strongly discourage it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Bashiok - Blizzard Representative - 08/01/2011 -"So how many skill combinations are there now? Well taking into account 6 active skills, all the rune combinations, and 3 passives we currently expect each class to have roughly 2,285,814,795,264 different build combinations."
"Hey, I thought you'd like the witty irony of grub-on-glowie violence!"
I think they might reveal d4 at blizzcon next year. hope for the good old diablo vibe atmosphere! the cartoonish graphics has no place into a diablo game..
My expectations are pretty low. I absolutely love this series, but I'm very hesitant to hope for anything that I'd really enjoy playing (a very lore heavy game with all of the elements that made D2 and D3 enjoyable, but modernized). I'm cautiously optimistic for something new being announced at Blizzcon, but I'm annoyed by the Diablo Immortal debaucle, and the "multiple diablo projects in 2019" blurb with absolutely zero news.
Honestly, I'm Diablo trash, so I'll probably play whatever is put out, but I'll see what comes up in the future before I start getting hyped for anything.
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ModeratorAs the silence seems to make way to occasional news about Diablo 4, I thought it would be good to have a thread that offers everything in one place. I'll add stuff to it in reverse chronological order, so the most recent info is always to be found at the top. If there's anything I'm missing, just reply to this thread and I'll add it.
June 20, 2019: Diablo 4 allegedly shown to Blizzard France employees
Source: LeMonde (french). Article talks more about the internal struggle after the massive layoffs, no new gameplay insight.
June 6, 2019: StarCraft FPS cancelled, focus on developing Diablo 4
Source: Kotaku. A first person shooter in the StarCraft universe was cancelled to shift more development onto Diablo 4 and a Left 4 Dead-style Overwatch 2. Blizzard took the time for an official response, semi-confirming it.
November 21, 2018: Diablo 4 internally first codenamed "Hades", then "Fenris"
Source: Kotaku. For a nice summary of a few bullet points, I'll just cite this thread by KainneAbsolute on MMO:
Project Hades: Diablo IV
everything in a well manner.
Project Fenris: Diablo IV reboot
(Below: posts before or just shortly after Blizzcon that do not directly hint at "news".)
November 7, 2018: A Quick Word from Blizzard
Source: Official forums
Nevalistis: "Since the moment we stepped into the office on Monday, we have been discussing everything Diablo non-stop. We’re fully committed to listening and engaging—so please keep the constructive feedback coming. Our primary focus right now is poring over that feedback to inform internal discussions, and we’ll follow up with further thoughts as soon as we can."
"We continue to read feedback and our internal discussions are ongoing. We have many plans for Diablo across multiple projects which we’ll be revealing over the course of the coming year. We are eager to share more about all of our projects, but some will have to wait as we prefer to show you, rather than tell you, about them. It's going to take some time as we strive to meet your expectations, but now, more than ever, we are committed to delivering Diablo experiences the community can be proud of.
- The Diablo Teams -"
August 8, 2018: Multiple Diablo projects in the works
Source: Youtube
Nevalistis: [...] We’d also like to let you know that the forges here at Blizzard are burning hot. And we have multiple Diablo projects in the works. Some of them are going to take longer than others. But we may have some things to show you later this year. We hope you stay tuned, while we work to bring these Diablo experiences to life. None of this would be possible without the support that you have shown us for over 20 years.
So whether you first joined us in Diablo 3 or you are a seasoned veteran, thank you. Diablo is, and always will be, part of Blizzard’s identity, and we can’t wait for the future.
November 7, 2018: A Quick Word from Blizzard
We want to start by saying we hear you.
Since the moment we stepped into the office on Monday, we have been discussing everything Diablo non-stop. We’re fully committed to listening and engaging—so please keep the constructive feedback coming. Our primary focus right now is poring over that feedback to inform internal discussions, and we’ll follow up with further thoughts as soon as we can.
August 8, 2018: Multiple Diablo projects in the works
Greetings heroes, I am community manager Brandy Camel, also known as Nevalistis.
On behalf of the Diablo team, welcome back to Sanctuary for our newest season. For those of you still rocking your heroes in Reaper of Souls, you might have noticed we did something a little bit different for Season 14: Themed Seasons. The Season of Greed is our first Themed Season and we plan to explore additional themes in the future.
We’d also like to let you know that the forges here at Blizzard are burning hot. And we have multiple Diablo projects in the works. Some of them are going to take longer than others. But we may have some things to show you later this year. We hope you stay tuned, while we work to bring these Diablo experiences to life. None of this would be possible without the support that you have shown us for over 20 years.
So whether you first joined us in Diablo 3 or you are a seasoned veteran, thank you. Diablo is, and always will be, part of Blizzard’s identity, and we can’t wait for the future.
October 12, 1985: Rorschach's Journal
Tonight, a comedian died in New York.
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ModeratorNice! I love Watchman
Hm... I sort of wanted to have only post-Blizzcon messages. But I guess I'll add pre-Blizzcon stuff, maybe in a spoiler. Thanks!
Right now I really hope they don't mess up D4 and we receive a proper cARPG, the announcement date is not so big of a deal, although I enjoy the building up of the hype train, which for good or for bad started very early this year.
Let's hope they don't go for the "lost ark type" aproach with D4, all content should be able to be soloed just as any other diablo game...
Those Who Do Not Know True Pain Cannot Possibly Understand True Peace...
Not only all content should be solo doable, but they have to keep the interest of all groups of players in the game be it casual, regular, dedicated or competitive; as well as hardcore and SSF. We would derive the thread if we go more in depth into what D4 needs, but maybe a mod could split it if there is interest in such topic.
I do not know what we know or not (or assume to know)
but here's something interesting
15.10.2018
diablo4.com domain was not reserved of Blizzard officially and is for sale
https://imgur.com/KGUOSFJ
https://imgur.com/SY9MK6A
Now it's registered at Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
https://imgur.com/a/H3xXIp0
https://www.whois.com/whois/diablo4.com
I had written about this last year here (this is a quote of my post, all my posts are deleted, I do not know why).
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ModeratorThat honestly pretty much assures that it will be announce at Blizzcon, if not SDCC.
https://www.deviantart.com/aerisot
Good to be using Diablofans again!
I am slowly starting to embrace the thought of getting Diablo 4 someday. I am not expecting it to be revealed in Bliizzcon 2019. It might, but I won't launch any false expectations. However, I am still wondering, what happened to those Druid clues? Were they really teasing it for D4 in D3? It's possible. But they also couldn't announce D3 Druid DLC at Blizcon 2018 as they released D3 Switch at the same time making it too soon for the new players (to pay for it). That leaves a small chance, Druid is still coming for the D3. At this point though, they might want to spare that class to D4. So... not expecting anything for D3 either. Someday... luckily I haven't burnt myself with D3 yet.
D4 threats:
- Mechanics more child friendly than D3
- Graphical direction more child friendly than D3
- Modern pay mechanics
- Consol based UI
D4 possibilities:
- Closer to D2 atmosphere
- a meaningful endgame outside timed rifts. Neither D2 nor D3 have this. D3 lacks endgame playable campaign and D2 lacked difficulty after Hell.
- Best case scenario: designers find an innovative way to prevent players looking up builds from the internet (preventing copy-paste leaderboards). (Very customized and unique builds, very unique drops).
- Runeword comeback
D4 needs to remain:
- Fluidity and smooth gameplay of D3
- Also single play possibility (not forced multiplay)
D4 biggest threat is botting.
D4 devs have to understand that botting needs to be killed by design when competition is involved.
Yes, but aren't those I mentioned also quite bad
?
I would hate HOTS looking Diablo 4.
I prefer cartoon 3D than any 2D. Reason is gameplay suffers a lot due to 2D. UI can NOT ever be worse than D3 so from my pov I am not worried about these.
But botting may very well kill D4 for me quickly. Seriously, if they allow botting to interfere with the competition I am done with this IP as long as those don't you use bots, guys folks own it. It will be hard for me to leave the series I played most, but if they allow botting to ruin a third Diablo game, I am OUT.
Isn't HoTS using the SC2 engine though?
I doubt D4 will use the same engine as that.
As far as botting goes, they need to really find a way to control and stop it. I honestly don't think you'll be able to stop it 100% but they certainly have the money and manpower to come up with a way to stop or strongly discourage it.
Bashiok - Blizzard Representative - 08/01/2011 -"So how many skill combinations are there now? Well taking into account 6 active skills, all the rune combinations, and 3 passives we currently expect each class to have roughly 2,285,814,795,264 different build combinations."
"Hey, I thought you'd like the witty irony of grub-on-glowie violence!"
I think they might reveal d4 at blizzcon next year. hope for the good old diablo vibe atmosphere! the cartoonish graphics has no place into a diablo game..
My expectations are pretty low. I absolutely love this series, but I'm very hesitant to hope for anything that I'd really enjoy playing (a very lore heavy game with all of the elements that made D2 and D3 enjoyable, but modernized). I'm cautiously optimistic for something new being announced at Blizzcon, but I'm annoyed by the Diablo Immortal debaucle, and the "multiple diablo projects in 2019" blurb with absolutely zero news.
Honestly, I'm Diablo trash, so I'll probably play whatever is put out, but I'll see what comes up in the future before I start getting hyped for anything.
If only the Dark Souls style game didn't get canned. I would still want a true sequel, but an offshoot adventure would have been sweet!
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ModeratorWe actually do not know if that game was truly cancelled or put on hold.
https://www.deviantart.com/aerisot
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ModeratorOkay, I'm gonna retire this thread
Made a new one here:
https://www.diablofans.com/forums/diablo-forums/diablo-iv-return-to-darkness/239696-diablo-iv-return-to-darkness-announcement-link
Also renamed the forum since it's not an unannounced project anymore!