Diablo 2 has just received a new update and Diablo 4 is anyway the latest installment of the series. Nevertheless, Diablo 3 is still supposed to attract millions of players. How that works is explained by a developer.
What is happening currently with Diablo? The Diablo series now has 4 parts, and the latest games are continually receiving new updates:
- Both Diablo 2 Resurrected and Diablo Immortal received a new class a few weeks ago. Players can now play as a Warlock and slash through demon hordes.
- Diablo 3 has been in its 37th season since December. It runs under the title “The Forbidden Archives.” The focus is on Kanai’s Cube.
- Diablo 4 is currently receiving the most updates. The game is now in Season 11, the Season of Divine Intervention. A DLC titled “Lord of Hatred” is planned for the future, which will be released on April 28.
Although Diablo 4 is the latest installment in the series, the player base in the predecessor is still said to be gigantic. Matthew Cederquist is the Executive Producer at Diablo and revealed in a group interview at Blizzard that there are still millions of players in Diablo 3. He also mentions the reason for this.
Games cannibalize each other
Why does Diablo 3 still have so many players? The producer reveals that each installment has its own core player base. However, there is also a part that switches back and forth between titles. This is mainly due to the different seasons and DLCs:
In every single leaderboard season that comes out, you will see how people switch from D4 back to D3 and play during that opening weekend or week or so, and then they switch right back to D4. And vice versa to D2.
Since Diablo 2 recently received new content, there are currently more players in Diablo 2 than in Diablo 3. The developers are trying to avoid the release of seasonal content for different Diablo games coinciding. This way, players should be able to enjoy a different Diablo installment each week.
Is that the case with WoW too? According to Cederquist, World of Warcraft is not as fluctuating as Diablo. Even with World of Warcraft Classic, while players have another option, they still have their own home in the respective game and cannot move it.
Additionally, it takes more time to level up your character, organize groups, and run raids there. That is different in Diablo. For example, every class is a damage dealer and does not have a specific role required for a raid.
The year 2026 is expected to be a great year for Blizzard. However, the head knows already that not everything will be a success. You can read how she envisions the future of the developer studio in the following article on MeinMMO: 2026 is supposed to be an important year for Blizzard, but the head has to admit: “Not everything will be a success”
