There have been rumors aplenty over what Blizzard will present at this year’s BlizzCon, the annual event used to promote and showcase their latest series’ entries. In terms of Diablo, their hack and slash RPG adventure series, there has been a wealth of speculation as of late regarding where the popular franchise will be heading next.
The prospect of Diablo 4 being announced is a very real one going off of both old and recent evidence. Back in July, Blizzard posted on their careers page that they were hiring a new game director to “lead the Diablo series into the future” with a knowledge of the franchise and experience in shipping AAA games being a factor. Being one of Blizzard’s most profitable and popular series, these would be key components for someone to take Diablo to the next step. This would seemed to have alleviated fears that have emerged since director Joseph Mosqueira had left the company, leading to concerns that there may never be another installment to the franchise.
This is where the plot thickens. Last week, Diablo fans ears pricked up following hints being made by Blizzard in the form of a die. Yep, that’s right. A small, seemingly unusable die contained in a BlizzCon goodie bag gives away a massive hint that a sequel may well be on the cards. A lot of the information within this theory may seem farfetched, and often there is a simple explanation as to why this might not be the case, but just stick with it for a moment.
Firstly, the D&D dice are often abbreviated according to how many sides it may have. A 20-sided die is referred to as D20, 12 sides is a D12 and so on. This particular die that is causing a stir only has 4 sides, therefore referred to as a D4, and in this instance, this could mean Diablo 4. That may seem like clutching at straws, until it was discovered that the unusually small D4 was unusable due to a printing error. Every face of the die should have the same number whichever way it is rolled, yet in this instance the 3 numbers correlate as 114 or 411 depending how you read it. Still with me? Good, because this could point to 4/11 as in 4th November, the date that BlizzCon official starts, prompting hopes that we would finally get the news we’ve been waiting for this fall.
It could be simply down to a factory error and there is no hint at all, but it may still be something to go off for those glass half full fans out there. Its also noteworthy that at last year’s BlizzCon a former Blizzard community manager was reportedly quoted as saying that Diablo fans would “lose their sh*t” at the following year’s event. A community manager was then coincidentally let go following the convention, though it has never been confirmed if it was the same manager who was quoted previously at BlizzCon 2015.
So with steps being taken to find someone to take up the mantle of bringing the RPG series to the next level, there is clearly a future for the series. Despite these recent rumblings however, there is also evidence to support that the next entry may not actually be Diablo 4 after all. The less likely of the two would be an expansion pack to Diablo 3, which was scheduled to be revealed at last year’s BlizzCon. However, the expansion, rumored to have been codenamed King of the North, was cancelled and instead released gradually through patched content. It’s not impossible to say that the next installment will be an add-on for Diablo 3, though there isn’t as much verification to support the idea so far.
So if not Diablo 4 or an expansion to Diablo 3, what else could it possibly be? At the beginning of 2016, Diablo 2 was patched for the first time in five years, sparking speculation that we could see it receiving the same treatment. The biggest hint to support this came when those invited to purchase electronic tickets to the upcoming BlizzCon 2016 received the following image within the invitation.
Notice the top right of the image? Its Diablo with the soulstone firmly planted in his noggin, reminiscent of his character’s representation in Diablo 2. So there is a strong possibility we may see a HD remake before a direct sequel in the series, which wouldn’t be a bad business move by any means given Diablo 2’s popularity and the sales success of HD revamps in general.
Whatever is coming, its exciting to see that the franchise is alive and well in terms of its future plans. Whichever form it is in, fans will hopefully be pleased in one way or another by the time BlizzCon 2016 arrives. Keep a close eye on Nov. 4th and 5th, Diablo fans, something big may be on its way!
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