Responding to this, Diablo 5 senior game director Joe Shely has taken to social media to note that Diablo 5 will continue to follow the franchise’s tradition of including “some DEX (moment-to-moment execution) mechanics”. However, he also confirmed that there will be an emphasis on planning and investment as well, which indicates that the title might have a larger emphasis on character builds than Diablo 3 or 4 did. He went on to say that any challenge in the game will be able to be taken on and overcome with the right build.

“While Diablo V will continue to feature some DEX (moment-to-moment execution) mechanics, on balance the game will be an INT/STR game (planning and investment). We are designing to the core tenet of ARPGs that any challenge can be overcome with the right build.”

When it comes to gameplay that revolves around figuring out character builds, the two major action RPGs that dominate the genre have tended to be Path of Exile and Grim Dawn. Both games also involve plenty of moment-to-moment execution. However, a character’s core identity almost always revolves around specific builds. Diablo 3 and 4, on the other hand, have largely opted to allow characters to set up just about any kind of build they might want. This has led to builds having generally less importance in these titles.

Diablo 4 is also noteworthy for suffering from the lack of many meaningful choices with its skill tree, where each node only gives players between 4 and 6 different choices. When compared to the gem system in the two Path of Exile titles, their respective passive skill trees, and even Grim Dawn’s intricate Masteries system that allows players to take on two classes whose abilities can be mixed and matched, Diablo 4’s buildcraft might end up feeling a bit disappointing to players who prefer thinking harder about their characters.

However, Diablo 5 is still quite some time away, with Blizzard confirming a 2029 release window. This long development period will give the studio plenty of time to observe the evolution of the action RPG genre. The studio has also revealed that it has high ambitions for the upcoming title, with executive producer Matt Zitterman going as far as to say that the team is aiming to make the franchise’s “best campaign ever”.

In the meantime, Diablo 4 won’t be getting any new expansions, since the team will be busy working on seasonal content for the game. The development of Diablo 5 has also likely taken away much of the workforce that would be necessary to make an entire expansion.

Kotaku’s tried to dig more information about Xbox UK only mentioning an Xbox release near BlizzCon, and the results are interesting. Blizzard Entertainment is neither willing to confirm nor deny the existence of PC, PlayStation, or perhaps even Switch 2 versions of the game, allowing our imaginations to run free while playing things close to the chest at this point in the game’s development. Apparently, they “can only say for now that StarCraft won’t be exclusive”, which really isn’t much to go on.

However, the potentially new campaign and multiplayer elements might indicate a release strategy aimed at having more players on board. Of course, there’s always the possibility of exclusive launch versions with ports being added later in the game’s shelf life. You never know, and it’s too early to guess, so we’ll dig in our heels and practice patience as a virtue until more information is revealed. We’re sure there’s going to be a lot to talk about as far as this one is concerned over time.

The publication has noted that Xbox hasn’t yet responded to any requests for comment regarding its reported layoffs. The proceedings will also result in some of the studios being joined together.

Which studios are going to be affected by the company’s new round of layoffs remains unknown, but reports have indicated that Blizzard is set to be hit, with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier noting in a recent episode of the 8-4 Play podcast that cuts at the World of Warcraft developer are “imminent”.

The company had gone through 1,600 job cuts in July, affecting studios like id Software, Bethesda, and many others in the process. However, at the time, CEO Asha Sharma had said that Xbox would be going through roughly 1,600 more job cuts before the end of the fiscal year.

“I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building Xbox,” said Sharma in a statement at the time. “Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved Xbox. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.”

The layoffs were the result of Xbox’s business not being healthy, with margins that were noted as being 3-10 times lower than “comparable platform and publishing businesses.”

“As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset Xbox.”

Along with the job cuts, Microsoft also divested itself of four of its studios – Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, and Undead Labs.

When discussing the idea of “resetting Xbox”, Sharma also announced that the division was getting a brand-new COO – Helen Chiang – who took over the position from Dave McCarthy, who has since retired after having worked at the company for 17 years.

“She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results,” said Sharma.

Reports indicating Blizzard might be one of the companies under Xbox to be hit with a round of layoffs are quite interesting, since the studio announced some ambitious plans for many of its IPs a couple of weeks ago. During its BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony, the studio announced that it is working on Diablo 5 – slated for a 2029 release – as well as a shooter set in the sci-fi setting of StarCraft that is set for a 2030 release.

Currently, Blizzard is gearing up to release its next major content update for World of Warcraft: Midnight, as well as its new take on World of Warcraft Classic, dubbed World of Warcraft Forever. The latter is set to go live on November 4th.

However, it seems that influenced the decision to create a sequel. As executive producer Matt Zitterman explained to GameSpot, “Who are Diablo players? Why are they playing Diablo? What do they want out of a Diablo game?

“That is a really critical step in the early conceptual phase for a game, even before you’re thinking about, ‘should we make this an expansion? Should we make it a sequel? How do we do this?’ Really deep understanding of who the players are.”

Of course, it also took feedback from those who played Diablo 4 and concluded early on that “some deeply structural changes” were required to “achieve what we wanted to achieve with this game.” Suffice it to say that an expansion would have made all this challenging.

However, Diablo as the sole big bad has plenty of appeal, and a new story involving him warrants a new game. “Diablo is the main villain. Diablo is the guy that we want to tell a real story about. We want to tell a story that’s on par with, and hopefully exceeds, the story that we told with Lilith and Mephisto, and to do that in an expansion just didn’t feel right. We needed to give him his own game.” Hopefully, it turns out to be the series’ “best campaign ever.”

While Diablo 5 is a long way off, Blizzard has confirmed the story. Long story short, the Lord of Terror has won, Sanctuary is in ruins, and your haven is now a caravan that’s on the move with other characters. Procedural dungeons and the Demon Hunter and Monk classes return, but there’s also the new Plague Knight to dabble with.

The downside is that the team is so focused on the sequel that Diablo 4 will no longer receive any paid expansions. Seasons will continue, though, and they might shine some light on Diablo’s return. Time will tell.

Matt Zitterman, the game’s executive producer, spoke of a sticky note that was sent to the game’s director, and its impact on motivating the team to go above and beyond to build on everything good about Diablo 4.

“Someone on the team, I don’t know who, wrote a sticky note and put it in our director’s office, and it says, ‘Best campaign ever.’ He looks at that all the time, and it’s really become a pillar of how we think about the game…That’s an example of us taking what was great in Diablo 4 and taking it further.”

That might be easier said than done given just how good the last outing in the franchise turned out to be, but we’re confident in the team’s ability to bring a new adventure to life, especially when it has already promised multiplayer support and is one of two games that mark Blizzard’s effort to ship big and on time. It’s a promising future for the franchise, and we can’t wait to see how it manages to turn that tried-and-tested formula into a heady combination of fresh yet familiar elements.

Diablo 5 launches in Spring 2029 with platforms yet to be announced. Until then, Diablo 4 won’t receive any more expansions, though seasonal updates will continue.

“We want to convey confidence in some of our biggest bets coming forward,” she said before going on to note that this is a new Blizzard “that’s going to ship, and ship big, and ship on time, and all hands on deck to set those projects up for success.”

In an interview with GamesRadar, StarCraft shooter project lead Dan Hay and associate director AnaLee Heartling also noted that Blizzard was announcing the game so far in advance to show its confidence in being able to ship it.

“We’ve been working on this thing for a little bit. We’re super proud of it. We feel good about it, and so it’s important that we share,” said Hay. “We think about the community. The community has been waiting for a long time, and we think about them. We think about what they want to say. So, we said to ourselves, ‘Is now the right time to start to show just an inkling of this story?’ And the answer is absolutely.”

“That shows that we’re serious. That shows everyone that that’s a date that we feel really confident about. And what I like about the team, I think we take that number, and we put it on the wall. And somebody goes, ‘So when is this thing going to ship?'”

The StarCraft shooter was unveiled with a cinematic trailer that emphasized the darkness of the sci-fi universe. It featured soldiers from the Terran Dominion faction training to take on the Zerg, with the story itself following a single recruit. As this soldier makes his way up the ranks, he ultimately finds himself facing off against the Zerg Swarm before meeting his demise. The battle is quick and bloody, and all we get to see in the aftermath are several bloody sets of Terran space marine power armors.

Diablo 5 was similarly unveiled during BlizzCon 2026 with a cinematic trailer that revealed details like the story taking place after the eponymous Lord of Terror has successfully won and taken over Sanctuary. Players will be part of a traveling caravan as they go to different places to cleanse the world of demonic corruption.

Interestingly, Blizzard has also confirmed that no further expansions for Diablo 4 are planned for now, with the teams being busy working on seasonal content for the action RPG alongside working on the development of Diablo 5 itself.

“We’re all focused on [Diablo 4] seasons and getting to Diablo 5. We feel like we told the Story of Hatred. We had a great conclusion with Lord of Hatred with what we have with Mephisto, and we are moving towards telling the Story of Terror.”

“We’re all focused on [Diablo 4] seasons and getting to Diablo 5. We feel like we told the Story of Hatred. We had a great conclusion with Lord of Hatred with what we have with Mephisto, and we are moving towards telling the Story of Terror.”

In the meantime, the team wants to continue working on Diablo 4’s story through seasonal updates. Since Diablo 5’s story will take place a century after the events of Diablo 4, the development team has plenty of time to explore various other narrative threads for the game. To that end, Gibson said that continuity will be an important thing for the company going forward.

“The events of Diablo 5 happen 100 years after everything that’s happening with Diablo 4, and so that gives us a lot of room to kind of still ride the wave with all the fans on where the story can go as we make our way there. So, continuity is something that we’re really excited about, but we don’t necessarily have a perfect picture on exactly where that’s going to go because we want to see how fans are reacting season to season.”

On the subject of whether the Diablo franchise will end up with a comparable fate to Path of Exile and its sequel, Gibson noted that it’s possible, and that the company doesn’t have any plans to shut down Diablo 4’s servers after the release of Diablo 5, especially if the former still has players. He also brought up how Blizzard has continued to support Diablo 2: Resurrected alongside Diablo 4.

“I think you can expect that—you know, Diablo 4 players, they love the game; there’s tons of them out there. We’re continuing to support the game for a very long time.”

Diablo 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Blizzard confirmed over the weekend that it is also making its way to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 15th. The date coincides with the kick off of Diablo 4’s next season – Season of Hell’s Legacy – which also happens to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary.

Among the content players can look forward to with the season are ways to go back to iconic locations from the franchise’s past, like the original Diablo’s Tristram Cathedral, and locations from Diablo 2 like the Worldstone Chamber and the Durance of Hate. Progression will also see some upgrades, like War Plans being shared among all of a player’s characters, and the Rebirth system returning.

For more on Diablo 4, check out our reviews of its launch version and of its two expansions – Vessel of Hated and Lord of Hatred.

“Like Diablo 4, it is a game that you can play solo or multiplayer, however you please, and you should be able to play all of the content with your friends.”

As for whether we’d end up meeting other players during the course of general play, however, Blizzard has said that details like this will be revealed as we get closer to the upcoming title’s 2029 release. However, the company has confirmed that the overworld will return to being procedurally-generated, in contrast with Diablo 4’s fixed overworld. The title’s general tone, which has been described as focusing on how players are traveling across the world of Sanctuary to cleanse corruption with a caravan, might also indicate a more solo-oriented approach, at least with the core story.

Without revealing too many details, Blizzard has acknowledged that the team will carry forward many aspects from Diablo 4. To what extent things like the inclusion of cosmetic items that can be bought for real money remains to be seen, however. Similarly, there has also been no confirmation about whether other MMO-like aspects of Diablo 4, like world events, will return.

During its announcement, Blizzard also confirmed that Diablo 5 won’t have towns and villages as we saw in Diablo 4. This means that, if the game were to include MMO elements, the lack of these towns to act as fast travel points and player hubs would be noticeable by their absence.

Diablo 5 was officially unveiled during BlizzCon 2026 over the weekend. The loot-based action RPG is slated to push the story forward quite a bit, throwing players into a world where the eponymous Diablo – the Lord of Terror – has already accomplished his goal. This means that the campaign will revolve around players roaming through the world and getting their hands on different kinds of powers. The narrative will also likely involve aspects like forcing players to confront the question of how much of a demon they are willing to become to fight the forces he Hell.

In the meantime, Blizzard is continuing to support Diablo 4 with its seasonal model, with the next season – dubbed Season of Hell’s Legacy – being kicked off on September 15th. The season will celebrate the Diablo franchise’s 30th anniversary and will have players visiting many zones from past games through the Waking Nightmares system. The season will also include features like the return of the Rebirth system and changes to crafting. The story itself will be a continuation of where Season of Death’s Awakening left off.

Diablo 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The title is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 15th.

As the cinematic trailer showcases, Sanctuary has fallen. All the heroes are dead, and as the development team detailed at BlizzCon, there are no more towns or safe places. Players will still rummage through the world, claiming different powers, but they’re seemingly dictated by what they’re willing to sacrifice.

The main theme of the sequel is “What must you become when the world has already fallen?” Blizzard will share more information at a dedicated panel over the weekend where it’s discussing the story, classes and how the world is being crafted. One thing is for sure: This could be the darkest that the series has ever been.

In the meantime, Diablo 4 is still going strong, and is set to release on September 15th for Nintendo Switch 2 with the Age of Hatred Collection. It includes the base game and both expansions – Vessel of Hatred and Lord of Hatred. Existing players can also dive into new content that day with Season of Hell’s Legacy.

If that wasn’t enough, Blizzard is adding the Amazon as a new class and a new weapon type, the Javelin, in 2027. An animated series is also in the works with Netflix, though further details are still pending.

But at least a slick cinematic trailer accompanies the announcement, which shows Dominion soldiers training to fight the Zerg Swarm. We follow one recruit, Holt, who steadily makes his way up the ranks. Rifle training, close-quarters combat – he excels in almost everything. And it all goes out the window when he and his fellow Terrans land on the battlefield.

A quick skirmish later, it’s revealed that there’s nothing left (not counting all the blood). As a mechanic begins repairing the suit, numerous others are seen, and it’s clear the war machine is only too happy to keep churning through recruits.

Of course, there’s no gameplay and little else revealed – including the official title – beyond the tagline of “carry their strength forward.” The only thing that Hay confirmed at BlizzCon is that this will be an open-world shooter. Based on rumors thus far, an extensive campaign and co-op are expected, though other multiplayer features should also be included. As always, stay tuned for more details and get comfy – it’s going to be a while.