Several announcements were made during BlizzCon, most of which will be featured in today’s news. One of the biggest surprises was the announcement of a new Diablo game.
Diablo V appears to differ significantly from Diablo IV. Set 100 years after Diablo IV, the sequel follows Diablo’s (the demon’s) apocalyptic rampage through Sanctuary. It will introduce fundamental changes to combat, classes, and loot. At BlizzCon, several Diablo V developers took the stage to discuss their vision for the game. They emphasized that everything is still in development and things may change before the planned spring 2029 release.
Many of Diablo V‘s biggest changes appear to be responses to player feedback on Diablo IV, particularly regarding its lack of features compared to previous games and competitors like Path of Exile, as well as Blizzard’s emphasis on a much darker tone. The campaign begins a few years after Sanctuary’s golden age, just as the world falls into the hands of the evil Diablo. Like Mephisto in Diablo IV, Diablo will be a fully developed character, not just a final boss to be defeated at the end of the game. Much of the story revolves around restoring the western continent and Westmarch—the series’ most iconic location—in the wake of the devastation.
Diablo V features procedurally generated dungeons and open-world regions that change each time we return to them. Instead of cities, there will be a caravan of non-player characters (NPCs) that we’ll meet throughout the story. One of our companions will be a treasure-hunting goblin. All side quests will come from the members of our caravan. The Demon Hunter and Monk classes are returning. New classes will also be introduced, including the Plague Knight, a class wearing heavy armor that spreads diseases on the battlefield. This game will feature more classes than all previous Diablo games combined. Items will have levels; they’ll be simple at first and become increasingly complex as the game progresses. Belts and set items are making a comeback. Depending on their type, items will take up more space in your inventory, just as they did in Diablo II. The development team is experimenting with items that require certain stat thresholds, reminiscent of Diablo II.
According to Blizzard, we can expect regular updates on Diablo V‘s development starting next year. They emphasized that they will make continuous changes based on player feedback throughout the development process. The game is set to be released in spring 2029 but does not yet have any confirmed target platforms. PC will certainly be among them, as the franchise has always been on that platform.
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