Diablo IV is still set for a 2023 release, Blizzard announced today. And while that 365-day launch window may not be super exciting, it was also revealed that the fan favourite Necromancer will be the game’s fifth and final playable class (at least for now). Put on your finest bone armour, folks, it’s once again time to raise vast hordes of creaking skeletons.
“We can’t wait to open the gates of Hell next year,” said Blizzard president Mike Ybarra. “The talented team behind Diablo IV puts gameplay first in everything they do, and they have built the biggest and most ambitious vision of Sanctuary yet. This sprawling world draws deeply from the dark well of the franchise’s 25-year history and is designed around the philosophy of player choice, offering an adventure unlike anything Diablo players have experienced before.”
Diablo IV continues the top-down action of its predecessors while giving would-be adventurers free reign to explore the unsettling gothic world of Sanctuary in any way they please. This time around, players will be battling against Lilith and her demonic forces, but I’m sure the titular Lord of Terror will show his ugly mug at some point as well.
It’s no secret that Diablo IV’s has had a rocky time behind the scenes. A Kotaku report from 2018 detailed a struggling, rebooted project. Add to that the game losing director Luis Barriga and lead designer Jesse McCree over the summer due to their alleged roles in various Activision scandals, and it becomes a surprise that Diablo IV is launching at all.
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