Blizzard aims to make the ARPG genre more accessible to many players, says Diablo head Rod Fergusson. That’s why Diablo 4 is also easier to understand than its rivals – the “Diablo-likes”.
- In February 2024, Last Epoch went into full release and was a real alternative to Diablo 4 for many fans. However, fans of Blizzard’s hack and slash can quickly feel overwhelmed, because the systems in Last Epoch are more complex.
- Path of Exile is considered the biggest competitor to Diablo, even though it is significantly too hard for most casuals. Recently, the heads explained that PoE is not that hard to understand; it’s just too old.
- Blizzard’s goal, on the other hand, is to make Diablo 4 more accessible and thus attract a larger player base.
What are “Diablo-likes”? In an interview with PCGamesN, Rod Fergusson, the head of Diablo 4, explains how the developers want to bring the ARPG closer to the “mainstream”. Therefore, there are no complex skill trees like in the “Diablo-likes” here. He calls the genre competitors – similar to how one speaks about Soulslikes, he says.
The first expansion for Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred, is coming in October:
Diablo 4 is “easy to learn”
Why does Diablo 4 appeal to more people? Blizzard’s goal, according to Rod Fergusson, is also to attract people who do not already play Diablo. They want to make the RPG easy to access. Therefore, Diablo 4 is easier to understand, without the complex passive skills and skill trees found in the “Diablo-likes” Path of Exile or Last Epoch.
According to Fergusson, people sometimes try to “design into a niche” because they believe that success lies in being even harder and more complex. “That’s cool, but it doesn’t make the audience bigger,” says the Diablo head in the interview with PCGamesN.
Blizzard has always had the ability to improve this “special genre and bring it closer to the mainstream.” Diablo is a mainstream IP because the series is easy to understand. The developers try to design the game so that it is accessible to everyone. “It’s easy to learn, but hard to master,” Fergusson notes.
What does the competition between rivals lead to? The rivals “learn from us, we learn from them, and we try to improve,” notes Fergusson. This small competition leads to everyone getting better.
The developers of Path of Exile are currently working on the sequel and are keeping an eye on Diablo 4. However, the head of PoE notes in the interview at the Summer Game Fest: Much of what Blizzard has done couldn’t even be learned. Everything that could have been learned was already known and done beforehand.
