Diablo IV is the upcoming action RPG by Blizzard Entertainment, the fourth mainline instalment in the beloved Diablo series. and features new gameplay mechanics, a new storyline, and an entirely new world to explore. This SEO pillar page will provide all the latest information on Diablo IV, including the release date, trailers, gameplay, characters, and more.
Release Date
Blizzard Entertainment has announced that Diablo IV will launch on June 6, 2023. The release date is, in fact, a clever in-joke. The Diablo games are obviously very connected to Hell as a place and as a concept. June 6, 2023, when represented as a date — 6/6/23 — references “the number of the beast,” 666 (where the 23 on the end becomes 2 multiplied by 3, the third 6).
Platforms
Diablo IV is coming to PC, and PlayStation and Xbox platforms. It will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Last-gen console versions will launch as Cross-Gen bundles, giving players access to the game on newer and older hardware. The good news for players hoping to get into multiplayer is that Diablo IV supports cross-platform play on consoles, and cross-saves across all platforms.
Gameplay
Diablo IV is a return to the darker, grittier, more horrific tone of the beloved Diablo II, but it makes a few changes on the way that classic game worked. For a start, it embraces a new open-world design between dungeons, with players being able to explore various regions of its world. This introduces certain MMO elements, like world bosses and moments where players can come together to complete common goals in online lobbies. The game also introduces a new character, the Rogue, who specializes in ranged combat and can use various gadgets to defeat enemies. If you played Diablo II, you might be thinking, “This sounds like the Assassin”, and you’re not wrong. The two classes are very, very similar. Diablo III players might even compare them to the Demon Hunter, which also played similarly. Players can also customise their characters with various skills, talents, and equipment to create different builds.
For those that haven’t ever played a Diablo game before, these are top-down dungeon crawlers about building incredibly powerful characters and carving through mobs of enemies. The further in you get, the stronger your character becomes, and their access to better and better loot increases. Many players will spend time running and re-running specific dungeons or boss fights in hopes of getting specific gear to drop so they can fine-tune specific builds they have in mind.
Characters and Classes
Diablo IV will feature five playable classes. They are:
- Barbarian
- Druid
- Necromancer
- Rogue
- Sorceress
Each of these classes has their own abilities, loot, weapons, and skill trees, and they all play very differently from one another. Players can construct character builds that will allow them to perform at maximum damage output either solo or in a multiplayer setting, and there’s no one right or wrong way to play any of them.
The Barbarian is a melee weapons specialist that deals in heavy physical damage and feats of raw strength. The Druid is a strength and magic hybrid, attuned with nature and able to transform into different animals. The Necromancer is a spellcaster that builds rent-a-crowd armies of the undead to do their bidding. The Rogue is a mixed-range melee specialist. Their damage is best dealt from the shadows, or from behind, but can be lethal at close range or from far away. The Sorceress is the primary spellcaster, a classically styled magic character full of powerful ranged spells.
The game’s primary antagonist is Lilith, daughter of Mephisto, the lord of hatred. She takes after her old man, and is about make herself everyone’s problem.
Storyline
A ceaseless war between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells now rages, and the cost of the conflict is high. While both sides are looking the other way, a new threat emerges — Lilith, Mephisto’s own demonic daughter and the rumoured ancestral creator of humanity. Lilith makes her way across the world of Diablo IV, called Sancutary, bringing misery with her. Lilith’s very presence creates chaos, extracting the worst impulses from everyone she meets. It is at this critical moment that your character arrives on the scene. Just as you did in Diablo II all those years ago, you’ll need to follow Lilith’s path of destruction and, when you catch up with her, hope that you have what it takes to bring her down.
Monetisation
It’s the question long-time fans want to know: will Diablo IV contain in-game transactions. The short answer is yes. Will these transactions be as calamitous as what the series endured in Diablo III‘s real-money auction house? We doubt it. Blizzard has said that the game will not feature another real-money auction house, but that there will be an optional store where players can buy cosmetics. What’s more, the game will also include seasonal content like a Battle Pass that will grant paying players some extra loot and goodies they can’t get anywhere else.
Impressions so far
Though Diablo IV has had several closed and internal betas on its way to release, it’s been the last two open betas where the game feels like it has picked up steam. We loved what we played in the recent open beta, though with a few caveats. You can read all about that in our full impressions here.
If you missed out on those last two betas, good news: there’s a third and final open beta, the Server Slam, coming later in May. Details on how to get involved in that can be found right here.
Trailers
There have been many, MANY trailers for Diablo IV since its announcement at The Last BlizzCon in 2019. Let’s take a look at a few of those, including the announcement trailer that set the game’s incredibly dark, grim tone. A content warning: Body horror
Though longtime fans are understandably still fairly tentative, there’s a lot of reasons to think Diablo IV could be the most exciting addition to the Diablo series in a long, long time. New gameplay mechanics, an open-world design, and an entirely new, much darker storyline will hopefully come together to create the kind of brutal monster-slaying RPG that fans have hoped and waited for.
See you in Sanctuary on June 6.
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