The “will they, won’t they” regarding Blizzard and Diablo 4 continues and though the studio has mentioned in the past that they have numerous Diablo projects in the works, many weren’t happy with one of those reveals when it debuted as a mobile game. Still, Blizzard has assured fans that Diablo 4 was still in the cards and it looks like the team is ramping up in a major way to get it done.
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The Blizzard Careers page seems to always be hopping with so many incredibly active franchises under their belt. Still, it was noticed in many of the Diablo forms – in my case, Discord – that there were several dozen positions suddenly open for an “unannounced Diablo project.” From designers, to technical engineers, it looks like Blizzard is finally ready to push this baby forward full steam ahead.
Regarding their previous promise of commitment to this beloved franchise, Blizzard did make a lengthy statement at the end of last year regarding the next step. “We continue to read feedback and our internal discussions are ongoing,” reads an official post by the Blizzard team on their forums. “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.”
Unfortunately, many Blizzard fans don’t seem to think it’s enough – or the “PR rhetoric” is too little too late, while others appeared to be excited for what lies ahead. We know that Diablo 4 is in the works, codenamed Project Fenris, and we know that the team is structured to focus on this franchise. The Diablo Immortal team is handled by a separate team, so the progress being made on the mobile addition to the series should have no bearing on the next full entry into the Diablo story.
Despite Immortal featuring a narrative that many have been asking for, with it set to bridge the large gap between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, long-time fans of the franchise weren’t pleased with the mobile-exclusivity. A large part of that is due to the recent Nintendo Switch port for Diablo 3 and the news that there were multiple projects in the works for this series, many were expecting a full Diablo 4 announcement – despite Blizzard being very clear that wasn’t happening during last year’s BlizzCon.
What are your thoughts on ‘Diablo-gate’ and the recent hiring spree? What are you hoping gets revealed this year now that we’ve got 2018 firmly behind us? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below, or hit me up over on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy.
