Diablo 5 officially announced in renewed attempt to bring back Diablo 2’s magic formula

Blizzard had a major Diablo presence at BlizzCon this weekend. Not only did we get new details on what’s next for Diablo 4, but Blizzard also confirmed that Diablo 5 is already in development and scheduled to arrive much sooner than expected.

While fans waited ten years between Diablo 3 and Diablo 4, the gap between Diablo 4 and Diablo 5 will be far shorter. Blizzard has announced that Diablo 5 is targeting a Spring 2029 release. With the studio now shifting its focus to the next game, Diablo 4 will not receive any further expansions, although seasonal updates will continue and there will be a new playable class added to the game next year.

While Diablo 4 centred on Lilith and Mephisto, Diablo 5 will bring the franchise back to its namesake villain, pitting players directly against the Lord of Terror once again. Fans won’t have to wait until 2029 to see him return either, as Diablo 4 Season of Hell's Legacy will include boss fights against all three Prime Evils.

Diablo 5 will be arriving in Spring 2029, set roughly 100 years after the events of Diablo 4. During this period of time, Sanctuary has fallen, with the Lord of Terror succeeding in his mission to take over the land. Players will be thrust into a version of Sanctuary where Diablo has already won the war. Blizzard teases that “at the heart of Diablo 5 is a simple question – what must you become when the world has already fallen?”.

Diablo 5 will introduce a new loot system, the return of item sets, more playable classes than any previous Diablo game and a renewed effort to recapture Diablo 2‑style itemisation.

In an interview with PC Gamer, Diablo 5 director Brent Gibson explained that while the team is now focused on Diablo 5, there is still plenty of room to tell new seasonal stories within Diablo 4 in the years leading up to the next game. “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,” said Gibson. “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.”

KitGuru Says: I've really enjoyed me time with Diablo 4 but it has become clear that there are some structural aspects of this game that were not popular. The shift to an MMO-style shared open world rather than traditional ARPG zones and co-op was perhaps the biggest point of contention. Despite this set-up being primed for genuinely new seasonal events, most Diablo seasons have instead relied on recycled content. Hopefully these are the sort of pitfalls Blizzard will avoid when ushering in Diablo 5. 

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