BlizzCon 2018 Schedule Teases Big 'Diablo' News Incoming

Blizzard just revealed the schedule for BlizzCon 2018, and after a cursory glance at the goings on, pretty much everyone is convinced that there is some major Diablo news on the way. You can take a look at the full, interactive schedule right here on Blizzard's official site, but the main thing we want you to notice is here:

You'll see that there's a major Diablo presentation on Friday afternoon, immediately following the opening ceremony. The presentation, called Diablo: What's Next, is set to run about 45 minutes, and we're pretty sure that we're going to see the next Diablo game revealed there. BlizzCon always starts off with a bang, and the fact that this presentation is coming right after the opening festivities is a pretty good sign that they have a major announcement to share with everyone.

If you click on the event on the interactive schedule, the description reads, "Join the Diablo team as they discuss of what's in store for the heroes of Sanctuary." On the following day, Saturday November 3, we have a separate "Mythic-tier" event for Diablo lovers in the form of a Q&A. This is simply being called Diablo: World and Q&A, and the description reads, "Join the Diablo developers as they explore the world of Sanctuary, then stay awhile and listen as the team answers your questions."

It seems very likely, at least to this author, that we'll see the reveal of Diablo IV right after the BlizzCon 2018 opening ceremony. We'll get a trailer, Blizzard will let fans freak out and sit on the initial announcement for a day, and then the Q&A will provide a tidy little follow-up for media and fans, and that's where we'll get a lot of our first details.

The timing is right. Diablo III came out in 2012, and other than the forthcoming Nintendo Switch version, due to drop on November 2, there hasn't been much to get excited about in the world of Sanctuary for some time. Rumors were circulating that we might see a Diablo IV reveal at this year's E3, and that never happened. We've also been expecting to see Diablo II HD make an appearance. Blizzard has confirmed that it's working on multiple Diablo projects, and I think it's probably that we'll see both of these things happen -- and soon.