With a recent reveal that officially confirmed its existence, Blizzard is taking a Starship Troopers approach to how it doles out information on Diablo 4. Which basically translates to: Do you want to know more? In a blog update, Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga explained how the team plans to keep fans up to date on progress, with quarterly reports that’ll detail what’s going on behind the scenes of the latest trek back into the burning hells of Sanctuary.
“We’ve been taking this week to assess and discuss our takeaways from BlizzCon, and we love all the deep discussions happening around the art, features, systems, and world of Diablo IV,” Barriga wrote.
We’re also excited about a cool update we’re planning for you in February of next year. It will be the first in a series of quarterly updates where we’ll share behind-the-scenes looks at our progress going forward.
Beyond that, Barriga revealed that Blizzard is looking to get a proper handle on items and how they impact on stats, a topic that has been of “burning” interest in the community since Diablo 4’s unveiling:
We also know that one topic is burning hotter than the rest. We want you to know that we are having the same conversations about items and stats that you are having—whether on the official discussion threads or external sites, we read it all! Getting this right is at the top of our minds, and in the coming weeks our lead systems designer David Kim will provide a few clarifications, share some of his thoughts, and address some of your open questions. We hope you check it out and let us know what you think.
Diablo 4 is looking grim, hot and infinitely clickable so far. If you feel like playing catch-up, here’s the game’s OG reveal trailer, some delightful screenshots and a quick look at three of the classes. Hell yeah.
Last Updated: November 14, 2019
HairyEwok
November 14, 2019 at 08:40
So every 3 months we’ll get some information on a game that doesn’t even have a “Blizzard soon” release date.
Admiral Chief
November 14, 2019 at 08:50
The game is complete, they just haven’t worked out all the financial models for MTs etc
Pariah
November 14, 2019 at 09:10
I’d be keen to see what they come up with, but as Zizaran points out – one of the main reasons Path of Exile still has active development on it is because it gets a constant flow of income from MTX. If Diablo 4 can have cosmetic stuff in it that’s cheaper than PoE but funds continuous development on it for years and years, then it has a chance to be a serious competitor to PoE, and that’s a good thing.
But, if they do the same thing as D3 and have no MTX, it’ll be a dead game before long. So idk. It’s a weird situation.
Admiral Chief
November 14, 2019 at 09:11
^^^ THIS is how you make money and keep the fans happy
Son of Banana Jim
November 14, 2019 at 09:11
You want a spell upgrade? That’ll be 20 dollahs!!!!
Original Heretic
November 14, 2019 at 09:19
And bend the knee to the almighty Pooh!
Hammersteyn
November 14, 2019 at 09:37
Possibly
Son of Banana Jim
November 14, 2019 at 09:11
Blizzard exec # 1: “Guys, we know gamers are dumb, but we need to do something about the rumours of a boycott because of China”
Blizzard exec # 2: “Eh, do we even need western gamers any more?”
Blizzard exec # 1: “Dammit Pete, yes, we do. our lord and saviour, Bobby Kotick wants to have a gold-encrusted penis by 2023 and by the gods we will give it to him”
Blizzard exec # 3: “Uhm… why don’t we just bombard them with Diablo 4 news. Those idiots will eat it up, and forget that we sold our soul to China.
Blizzard exec # 1: Clive… the game doesn’t even exist yet except for some simple animations made by the interns in the dungeon.
Blizzard exec # 3: “Slurp… so?”
Bobby Kotick: “Mmmmmm…. gold-encrusted penis….”
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 14, 2019 at 08:50
I think you mean:
Blizzard plans to get tonnes of free press every three months and keep Diablo 4 in the forefront of everyone’s minds for the next few years as they slowly drip details.
To be followed by the inevitable fan moaning about something/nothing and the inevitable moaning about the moaning.
Son of Banana Jim
November 14, 2019 at 09:12
I like the people moaning about the fans moaning, because invariably what we need is that fine Millennial tradition of tertiary moaning. It’s the gift that keeps on giving – like Twitter.
Admiral Chief
November 14, 2019 at 09:30
Ok boomer
Son of Banana Jim
November 14, 2019 at 10:15
That’s ageist!!! 😮 The silent generation and the baby boomers shall not be mocked by you young whippersnappers, your memes and your many gender pronouns!!
BradeLunner
November 14, 2019 at 11:52
Tertiary moaning, I’m learning awesome new tools for my arsenal today
Pariah
November 14, 2019 at 09:10
And god forbid there’s a funny looking texture in there somewhere.
BradeLunner
November 14, 2019 at 11:43
Paramount may have doomed us all with the Sonic upgrade. It’s a whole other strategy companies can implement without the good intentions the Sonic guys had
Hammersteyn
November 14, 2019 at 09:38
Guess it’s gonna be a while still then.
For the Emperor!
November 14, 2019 at 10:27
Blizzard desperate to gain some good will?