Diablo IV is currently in its second season titled Season of Blood, where players are introduced to a new NPC character named Erys, a vampire hunter voiced by Gemma Chan (Eternals). During BlizzCon, Blizzard had some news for the dungeon crawler sequel including the unveiling of the first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, and a new class. It’s scheduled to be released in late 2024 and players can expect the return of Mephisto, the antagonist from Diablo 2.
Like Diablo III, the fourth installment will have updates and expansions, with the team wanting Diablo IV to have longevity.
Vessel of Hatred
“We’ve added lots and lots of content for [Diablo III],” Joe Shely, game director for Diablo IV, tells Nerd Reactor during Diablo IV’s BlizzCon press conference. “And are we going to do that same thing, or do we hope Diablo IV will do that as well? Absolutely. This is a game that we want to continue to support for years to come and you know, some of the content that we talked about today at the panel speaks to that in terms of the seasons, but also in terms of expansions starting with Vessel of Hatred.”
Vessel of Hatred will take place in the jungle region of Kurast. As for the class, many believe the Spiritborn character will join the existing classes: Rogue, Sorcerer, Druid, Barbarian, and Necromancer. The Diablo IV team is keeping things close to their chest until it’s time to make the announcement.
“There’s the way we developed the classes,” Brent Gibson, associate game director on Diablo IV, said. “We want really distinct player class fantasies – very specific power fantasies. The class team has more fantasies that they would love to go after. And so to a degree, they all have things on the back of their mind all the time while we’re developing.”
Midwinter Blight
With the current season, there will be seasonal events to make the world of Sanctuary exciting and adventurous. The Midwinter Blight event will be launching in mid-December.
“The Midwinter Blight is a seasonal holiday event,” Shely said. “We’ve got Season of Blood, and then layered on top of that, there are seasonal events within the season. So we’ve put some seasons on top of the seasons, right? So like Abattoir here is a seasonal end-game event that’s part of Season of Blood, and Midwinter Blight is a seasonal holiday event that’s part of Seasons of Blood. And they are occurring almost at the same time. So it’s going to be really incredible to play in December and experience all that stuff.”
Microsoft and Blizzard
It’s been recently announced that Microsoft has officially acquired Activision Blizzard. What does that mean for Blizzard and the future of Diablo IV?
“Well, it’s sort of early days in terms of it, but what was really cool is the way that we build the game,” Shely explained. “In order to get all of this content out, we build elements of the game in parallel with each other. Sometimes we call it swim lanes. If you think about a swimming pool, and they’re all sort of cordoned off. And so that allows us to develop seasons in parallel, develop expansions in parallel with seasons, right? It takes a dedicated team to do that, and it’s incredible to have Microsoft support to do that. Microsoft is very committed to Diablo IV. So we see a bright future there.”
Diablo Is Getting a Tabletop Roleplaying Game
If that’s not enough Diablo news for you, Glass Cannon Unplugged, Blizzard Entertainment and Genuine Entertainment announced Diablo: The Roleplaying Game. It will be released in 2024 and will be the first part of a long-term tabletop gaming program. It will be available to pre-order on Kickstarter and will debut at BlizzCon 2024.
The original core engine of Diablo: The Roleplaying Game is inspired by Diablo IV. The Core Rulebook is set in the timeline of Diablo IV and will expand on the world of Sanctuary. upcoming tabletop games will be set during the different Diablo games.
Diablo: The Board Game is a co-op adventure board game scheduled for release in the fall of 2025. It will act as a direct companion to Diablo: The Roleplaying Game and will have interchangeable game components, shared accessories, and complementary expansions.
About Diablo IV
Synopsis: Seeking refuge from the eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, Inarius and Lilith formed Sanctuary and gave life to the Nephalem with the stolen Worldstone. Fearing the destruction of her hybrid offspring, Lilith led a violent, protective act to protect the Nephalem; ultimately leading Inarius to turn his back on her, banishing her to the abyss, becoming enemies henceforth. Lilith’s return ushers in an age of darkness and misery. What fate awaits?
Diablo IV, the fourth game in the series, is an action role-playing game that was released on June 5, 2023, for the PC and consoles.
