The biggest surprise of BlizzCon might be Diablo 5, which Blizzard announced will release in spring 2029, six years after the 2023 launch of Diablo 4.
The sequel will take place about a century after the events of Diablo 4. Sanctuary is no longer on the verge of apocalypse in Diablo 5: It’s been fully apolcalpyted. The Lord of Terror—aka Diablo himself, absent in Diablo 4—is back, and he won.
“The heroes are gone, Sanctuary has fallen, and Diablo has won,” declared Diablo 4 director Joe Shely. “For the first time, you won’t be fighting to stop Diablo from taking Sanctuary. You’ll enter a world where he already has. There are no towns or safe places waiting to protect you.”
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There’s not a ton to go on in the trailer, but it is, fittingly, dark and grim: Everything’s on fire, grubby peasant guys proselytize on behalf of the victorious demons, and angels are getting crucified. After the title drop, we get a brief view of the titular Diablo himself, out of focus and wreathed in fire.
2029 is still a ways off, but it’s nevertheless surprising to hear news of a new numbered Diablo sequel. Given Diablo 4’s live servicey shape, I expected another expansion roadmap rather than a full-blown sequel.
For comparison, there was a 12 year wait between Diablos 2 and 3, and an 11-year gap between the initial launches of 3 and 4, both about double the projected wait between 4 and 5.
Development times have been trending longer in the industry, not shorter, and I’m curious how Diablo players will respond to what would usually be regarded as pretty great news—do you think Blizzard should have stuck with D4 as a platform instead of already starting on a sequel? Sound off in the comments.
Regarding Diablo 4, Blizzard did announce that the Amazon class is coming, and talked about the next season, an anniversary celebration looking back at Diablo’s past, but didn’t announce a new expansion.