It is currently an unprecedented period for Diablo. The storied franchise has historically had nothing but long stretches between news about each game. Blizzard's modern release in the franchise is Diablo 3, and as such it has many live-service elements built into the experience. Many players have stayed faithful to the modern iteration of the dungeon crawler, and are wondering if it's continued support will be taking a backseat to other releases on the horizon.
Blizzard is no stranger to seasonal live-service games. Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, and even World of Warcraft are reliant on playerbases that stay around for steady releases and patches that add new content. Blizzard added this approach to its co-op friendly Diablo 3 a while ago with a seasonal model to add content into the game. Every several months, players can expect new gear and small story elements to be added, which has helped flesh out the world of Diablo 3. Now that the publisher's attention has been focused at other projects within the IP, many fans are worried about support for Diablo 3.
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Hopefully Diablo 3 Won't Be Forgotten
The Diablo series is normally punctuated by large periods between the release of each game, and historically without much support in between. But even as fans ponder what Diablo 4 might pull from Diablo 3, there are multiple projects in between. Diablo 2: Resurrected is set to reimagine the classic PC game for modern platforms, and Diablo Immortal is waiting to bring the world of Sanctuary to mobile gamers. With Diablo 4 likely a long time away still, many fans are still enjoying Diablo 3 and wondering where support for the beloved game sits in Blizzard's plans.
Despite many fans clamoring for Diablo 4 to more closely resemble Diablo 2, Diablo 3 still maintains a solid playerbase. This is partly due to a refined gameplay loop and a wealth of content for those who are still playing. The dungeon crawler is still full of new gear to loot and secrets to uncover, even almost a decade after its release. But many fans that are hunkered down until the next mainline release are worried about the state of the game when compared to the other projects in the Diablo universe.
Diablo 3 has long survived because of an attention to fans' desires. Bringing in small fixes for mechanics that spurned some players, adding in new content for long-time fans, and adjusting gameplay for the purists have all been central to the ongoing support for Diablo 3. Hopefully competition for resources with Diablo 4, Diablo 2: Resurrected, and Diablo Immortal doesn't mean that the current iteration of the game will suffer.
Diablo 3 still has a strong following online, as it is one of the only truly traditional couch co-op experiences left, and partly on its solid merits as a looter/dungeon-crawler. The problem is that many of those same players are worried about the direction of the Diablo franchise, and whether the game they've stayed faithful to will be left in the dust as Blizzard moves on to newer projects. It would do the developer well to satisfy all of its fans, even if there are big things on the horizon.
Diablo 4 is in development with PC, PS4, and Xbox One as confirmed platforms.
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