When Blizzard released Diablo II back in 2000 it was received very well. In fact, it sold more than 1 million units in its first two weeks (a Guinness world record for it’s time), and its Metacritic score was (and still is) an 88.
Fast forward 12 years and Activision Blizzard announced Diablo III. Fans were ravenous for this sequel and it showed in the presales numbers. But after the initial excitement died down, fans became unhappy with the game (the Metacritic user reviews are also overwhelmingly negative).
And now here we are, 2016, and Blizzard seems to be showing signs that more is in store for Diablo. With their annual Blizzcon conference coming up soon (11/4/2016), they have started to send out some goody bags to a few lucky folks. There is a stein, an E.T.C. guitar pick dog-tag-like necklace, and a few other items, but the one to note is a Diablo III Gaming Dice Set. Part of this set is a special custom printed Diablo 4 die. What’s special about it is that it was intentionally printed “incorrectly.” Meaning where you would expect the three sides that are readable to have 1’s on them, they instead have two 1’s and a 4; i.e. 11/4.
On top of this cryptic little guy, previous members of the Diablo II team have been spending time around the Blizzard campus; former D2 Project Lead, David Brevik, and former Sr. Producer, Bill Roper.
Despite the backlash that Diablo III received, the franchise inspired a game that harkens back to the good ol’ days, Path of Exile. The success of this game showed that fans wanted things to go back to how they were, and that they longed for it. The Wikipedia page for the game is pretty explicit in that regard:
The game borrows heavily from the Diablo series, particularly Diablo II.
Tie all of this together with a recent tweet from David:
For 20 years, Diablo-like games have evolved & surprised us. I’m proud to be the adviser for the game that pushes this genre to new heights. pic.twitter.com/LIT3i0UwJv
— David Brevik (@davidbrevik) October 16, 2016
And you’ve got the feeling that something big is brewing.
Do you think Blizzard is working on Diablo 4? Would you play it if it were released? Or would you rather see them improve Diablo III? Let us know in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
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