Diablo 4 was announced with the feature of a “shared Open World.” We explain what that exactly means.
Update: After the “Systems & Features” panel for Diablo 4, there is new information about the open world system. We have marked them with (NEW) in this article.
What does “Open World” mean? One of the major changes of Diablo 4 is the open world. “Open world” means that you can choose at any time which activities in which areas you want to do.
There are no fixed routes anymore and no linear campaign that guides you through the game in a specific order. You decide for yourself which area you visit and complete at what time.
(NEW) The individual areas flow seamlessly into one another. This means that when you are in a dungeon, the individual levels of the dungeon and also areas of the outside world are no longer separated by loading screens.
What does “shared” mean? The open world of Diablo 4 is also “shared” – with other players. You will frequently encounter other players on your journeys. You can already get a first impression of the Diablo 4 gameplay through streamers and the gameplay trailer embedded below.
The Open World of Diablo 4
This is how the system works: Diablo 4 encourages you to interact with other players through various features. Several possibilities have already been mentioned:
- at public events that you participate in with other players in the open world
- during PvP in specific zones to fight other players
- in cities that serve as a “social hub”
The cities hold a special position because you can team up with other players here, inspect their equipment and builds, and trade with them.
Bosses as World Events: Public events also include world bosses that must be fought by many players at the same time. The bosses appear with a timer and an announcement.
Players can group up and gather to defeat the boss and collect their rewards.
Solo or MMO? How cooperation works in Diablo 4
(NEW) How many players play simultaneously? The number of players in your game or area is supposed to depend on where you are located. Some areas are supposed to be denser with players than others.
You should usually be alone most of the time to create a sense of danger.
In a preview report by Gamestar, colleague Maurice Weber mentioned that he participated in a boss fight in a public event with 12 other people.
(NEW) Can I play alone? Nevertheless, it should be possible to play Diablo 4 solo. In the Diablo panel at BlizzCon 2019, the developers confirmed that players could complete Diablo 4 “completely alone” without necessarily participating in social activities.
The entire campaign as well as dungeons are “private” content, which means they can only be completed solo or in groups of up to four players. All endgame content and the best loot are available both alone and in a group.
Diablo 4 is always online
Is there an offline option? In an interview with PCGamer, lead designer Joe Shely stated that there is a “large, seamless, connected, and shared space in the world” in Diablo 4, which is best explored online.
So Diablo 4 will apparently not have an offline mode. You will always play online.
Here’s the problem: Players are already anticipating the issues that Diablo 3 had at launch. “Error 37” prevented many players from playing Diablo 3 for days after its release.
Whether Diablo 4 will face the same issues remains to be seen. However, only in the distant future:
