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"Diablo 5 is a new game, it gives us the freedom to start with a really big idea." — Why a sequel should have you excited for Diablo 4 too
Fresh from the bombshell that Diablo 5 is coming in 2029, I was lucky enough to get 15 minutes with the developers to ask some burning questions. Quickest 15 minutes of my life, but 15 minutes I am very grateful to have had, let me tell you!
Diablo 5... already?
Sitting down with Senior Producer Tiffany Watt and Art Director John Mueller, my first question was the obvious one: Why Diablo 5, and why now (or rather, why in three years)?
Since the announcement however, that question has been debated to death already, and the reason comes down to scope. Mephisto and Lilith's story has been told across an epic Hatred saga spanning three installments, and we certainly couldn't expect Diablo himself to be relegated to a simple expansion. The Lord of Terror deserves his own story, and that belongs in a brand-new chapter.
Now to anyone worried that this means Diablo 4 is effectively being taken out back and put out of its misery, you couldn't be further from the truth. I sincerely advise you to watch the Diablo 4 panel that took place at BlizzCon today, where the developers not only shared more about Season 15 but also laid out the roadmap for the game's future.
While it has been confirmed that there are no more planned expansions for Diablo 4, the team is introducing a cohesive "Seasonal Arc" rather than isolated, standalone seasonal stories.
"We have an opportunity now after Lord of Hatred to chart a little bit of a story that's based on Lord of Hatred," the team shared. They noted that upcoming seasons leading up to the launch of the Amazon will feature an interconnected story thread, ultimately culminating in a confrontation with the new Aspect of Death.
The narrative journey from Diablo 4 to Diablo 5
I asked Tiffany and John about the new status quo in Diablo 5's world and how they plan to bridge the narrative gap from the current events of Diablo 4. I also wanted to know how they plan to ensure everything we just went through in the Age of Hatred saga still matters.
"Because Diablo 5 is a new game, a sequel, it gives us the freedom to start with a really big idea. What if Diablo got everything he wanted? And that's where we open the game. As you go through the campaign and the story, you are just a survivor in a very apocalyptic state of Sanctuary. You're discovering what happened, and how did this come about? Your role in it is really unique, and that's something we have more to share about next year."
But for now...
"Diablo 5 takes place 100 years after Diablo 4, and there was a Golden Age after we defeated Mephisto. In Diablo 5 you'll actually get to see how it played out, how Diablo actually conquered Sanctuary. You have the opportunity to watch that. As you're playing the story, you'll discover more about what the fallout is. When you enter it's actually 7 years after he has taken over Westmarch, you are the heir to Westmarch. You have a deeply personal connection to the story, because you have something to fight for. You're trying to win back the lands he (Diablo) conquered, but you're on the run. It's your fallen kingdom."
The devs also noted that, while the game was just announced, it's still three years out. While the early announcement might catch some off guard, it gives them a vital opportunity to talk to the community right now and gather feedback early in development while the narrative is still fluid and subject to change.
My own personal theory is that the recently announced Netflix show could do some heavy lifting here, but we are still waiting for more details on that front.
Establishing memorable side characters, and where Diablo 4 was lacking in this sense
After a brief chat about the exciting, nostalgia-packed Season 15 of Diablo 4, I mentioned to the team that it got me thinking about how Diablo 4 really failed to cement any memorable NPCs in my memory.
I can name every NPC in Diablo 3, from Shen to Kadala, and reel off their voice lines, but a blacksmith or occultist in Diablo 4 feels like a generic background asset. How can Diablo 5 bring back some of that character?
"This is something we recognize, and as we were starting to work on Diablo 5, we wanted to get back to that smaller story where you could go deeper with the characters. You know a lot of Blizzard characters have resonated over time, hey I have a cat called Deckard Cain! And everyone remembers Charsi from Diablo 2. The caravan is how we are really spending time with the characters in Diablo 5. There is an incredible cast that Jennifer and John have partnered on; we announced Zarg yesterday. He's a treasure goblin. Because it's a post-apocalyptic world, there are very few survivors. So when you come across one in your travels, it's going to be really rare that you find someone who is worth saving. That person or demon is going to be very meaningful to you when they join the caravan, and you'll learn about their backstory.
During the campaign, we'll learn how these NPCs have survived since Diablo's return to Sanctuary, their reasons for joining us, and their motivations. Essentially, we'll be given reasons to care for others outside of our own character. "We want to sort of bring back that notion that you have one character you get to know as the blacksmith, one as the jeweler, because they're like the last denizens of Sanctuary.
Of course Diablo 4 had its memorable characters in Lilith, Lorath, and Neyrelle, to name a few, but I'm happy to see that some of the flavor of Diablo 2 and 3 is coming back to the gameplay loop itself. I want to know the guy who is salvaging my gear!
Lessons learned from Diablo 4, from launch to current day
When Diablo 4 launched, I was surprised that several quality-of-life features standard in Diablo 3 simply didn't exist in the game. Things we had to wait months, or in the case of things like Armory and Party Finder, years, to be implemented.
Given the team's previous Diablo iterations and what the community liked and disliked, how did we end up losing so much in a new game, and will Diablo 5 avoid similar pitfalls?
"This is one of the reasons we are so excited to talk about Diablo 5 today. Even though it may be 3 years out, because we are starting the conversation so early we have a lot of opportunity to hear from the community about what is important. We are able to move a lot more quickly on things, and better prioritize what needs to go into the game. As a producer, I can ensure that things don't fall by the wayside. We had every intention of having these things in Diablo 4 at launch, but were frankly prioritizing some of those amazing creative system features. But it's really important we bring the whole package, and why we want to start the conversation early here with the community. Ultimately we're building the game the community wants.
As players in the game ourselves, it's important that we're hearing back from the community like, "Hey, like, you know what? Party finder, armory- these are things that are really core to our experience, that really allow us to enjoy the game at the level that we want." Last thing is, we were building a new toolset. You know, it wasn't the same foundation; it wasn't the same tech (from the Diablo 3 to Diablo 4 engine). The whole rendering engine, basically, all of it had to be modernized because it was just from a different era.
We've had our own branch now for Diablo 5, for a while now, and we've been tooling that and making that specific to the game we're building, and I think that's something that is not broadly understood how that works in game development. But it's a big deal! Because it means we can make it for our specific needs, not just what people want. We also don't want to carry over any tech debt or things we don't necessarily want in the game for the future."
Excited for what's to come, for both Diablo 4 and Diablo 5
Unfortunately I didn't get chance to ask much more, at least nothing the team are ready to answer me on yet (e.g will the game go back to peer-to-peer servers again), but I'm hoping to get more time with them as development goes on.
It's easy to be positive when I'm in the thick of the crowds at BlizzCon and absorbing the infectious atmosphere of all the fans around me, but I haven't been completely oblivious to what's been a mixed-bag response to the announcement of Diablo 5 online and back home. There are as many who are cautious and critical of getting another chapter announced while Diablo 4 is thriving, and I totally understand the sentiment. Afterall, I lived through Diablo 3 getting dropped right before Reaper of Souls was a resounding success. However, I'm so excited for both games right now.
I remember Diablo 4 being the first time Diablo had been so, well, mainstream and thrust into the spotlight; it captured the zeitgeist in a way that no further expansions are ever going to do again, and I think that magic could be struck twice with a Diablo 5 release that will bring people back once more.
Plus, Diablo 4 is getting a new class, talk of more focused seasonal content now that the team isn't split between that and work on expansions, and we still have three years to enjoy it before Diablo 5 arrives (and I will be shocked if that goal date isn't delayed).
Season 15 celebrates 30 years of Diablo, and what better time to announce a new chapter coming than on its 30th anniversary?
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