How long till the game releases?

[Coldkil]

2023 is too far imho - the interest would just die down by that time. 2021 would be the best, 2022 the morst likely.

[ParanoiD84]

Sometime in 2021 would be my guess.

This is a game I like them to take their time with though.

[Truhan]

2023 is too far imho - the interest would just die down by that time. 2021 would be the best, 2022 the morst likely.

2023 makes the most sense to me. Diablo 3 was announced in 2008, released in 2012. This one looks far earlier in development than 3 was at the same time, and this is clearly far more ambitious (granted, I think they said they ended up scrapping and restarting from scratch a couple of times after D3 was announced). The story looks like it'll be absolutely amazing though, and the environments nail the Diablo aesthetic far more than 3 did.

[StayTuned]

This could be the most snarko-cynical post I've seen here in a long time. I don't think any of your gloomy predictions will be close to true, but I can see mounts and cosmetics providing an extra path of monetization, and there is nothing wrong with that.

I think it would be very optimistic to expect a new game by 2021; my guess is spring of 2022. Which is a really long time from now. Too long, imo.

The lack of a pre-order is the only thing that lets me believe that either someone responsible at Activision had a stroke and that's why they missed it, or it's genuinely still far away from being released.

The rest of my predictions are maybe cynical but not that unrealistic, seeing their track records with the Diablo franchise ever since Diablo 3 came out. The paid DLC idea is really just there because of the Zeitgeist.

[Cæli]

Diablo 3. 4 years between announcement and release.
Diablo 4. 3 years with the experience. early 2023

[TheHodedOne]

Diablo 3. 4 years between announcement and release.
Diablo 4. 3 years with the experience. early 2023

The gaming industry moves faster now than back at the 2000s days, and with Activision pushing Blizzard more and more for yearly releases and more money I can´t see them taking more than 3 years for this game, like I said , I´m expecting a 2021 release. Maybe an early 2022 release.
From all the games they announced this Blizzcon Overwatch 1.5 seems to be the most done at this point, I expect them to release it way before next WoW´s expansion.
For me they release schedule looks something like this:

Overwatch 2 - sumer/fall 2020
WoW: Shadowlands - fall/Winter 2020
Diablo IV - spring/summer 2021

[Gravity2015]

i also dont give a damn, unless poe 4.0 delivers an extreme update to graphics - game feels way to clunky for me to enjoy, ive gone through a1-10 but never far past that into maps

[Enjeh]

thats 2+ years after PS5's release date. If that was the case wouldnt they have just said the game will be for PC, PS5, and whatever shit console X-Box makes next? they fact they said it will be out for PS4 means it will be out before December 2020, or shortly thereafter.

Them announcing it for PS4 and Xbone were most likely just to confirm it getting a console release. why not just say PS5 and Xbox Scarlet? Scarlet still haven't been official announced.

then why waste time developing it for inferior platforms?

Even if It is 2 years after the PS5 release they will still release it for PS4 as well, there's over 100 million units of PS4 sold, there is no way even a fraction of those have gone over to PS5 that quick.

[Coldkil]

2023 makes the most sense to me. Diablo 3 was announced in 2008, released in 2012. This one looks far earlier in development than 3 was at the same time, and this is clearly far more ambitious (granted, I think they said they ended up scrapping and restarting from scratch a couple of times after D3 was announced). The story looks like it'll be absolutely amazing though, and the environments nail the Diablo aesthetic far more than 3 did.

Well, maybe it's just me wanting the game as soon as possible then On one side, i can see why the game is still in an early stage. On the other, stuff like combat looks so polished already it looks definitely playable.

My idea is that they worked on gameplay first and foremost. Then, given the size of the game, they have a lot to do to actually fill everything up so it doesn't feel empty.

[Kokolums]

They cannot wait 3 years to push this out. PoE updates WAY faster. Faster update cycles will make everyone play PoE instead. They need to get D4 out by early 2021 at the latest.

[Coldkil]

However on the other side PoE is on a "strict" seasonal setup - the game is definitely good to play, but D4 has way more modern structure and could work better over time, while PoE has always this "legacy" feeling which may have worked well when D3 was out and people wanted a better D2, but D4 is putting himself in a new place.

This said, i think both games will just coexist. PoE playerbase is solid and i just cannot see the game being abandoned anytime soon. 4.0.0 is going to be revealed in 10 days or so, and then we can directly compare the two games since GGG's idea was literally to make the game competitive with D4.

[Kumorii]

Summer 2021

[Ulfric Trumpcloak]

Next year or 2021. Diablo games are pretty shallow, we're not talking about a game like the witcher or the elder scrolls.

[Truhan]

Well, maybe it's just me wanting the game as soon as possible then On one side, i can see why the game is still in an early stage. On the other, stuff like combat looks so polished already it looks definitely playable.

My idea is that they worked on gameplay first and foremost. Then, given the size of the game, they have a lot to do to actually fill everything up so it doesn't feel empty.

Yeah, I definitely want to play the game as soon as possible (wish I could preorder even). But I also don't want a repeat of the Diablo 3 launch. I was pretty surprised they ended up building a whole new engine, but hopefully it means they'll be able to build the world more easily. Gameplay seemed solid (even if the classes didn't have much to show yet), and bringing back talent/skill trees and traditional runes is a great decision. I also love that someone in their art department seemed to have taken inspiration from my favorite artist of all time, H.R. Giger. Tell me this doesn't resemble Lilith.

[mvaliz]

What? No way. They have a demo playable. There is no way it's 2 years from now.

They had a more-complete playable demo when they first revealed D3... and it took 4 years for that to come out.

2021 is, at best, a VERY optimistic earliest releast date.

- - - Updated - - -

Next year or 2021. Diablo games are pretty shallow, we're not talking about a game like the witcher or the elder scrolls.

See above about 4 years between reveal for D3 and actual game release.

[Amerissis]

It will take a long time since they will be simultaneously be trying to compete with everything PoE introduces between now and then. If you think about the fact PoE will have 3-4 more years of improvements I'm sure Diablo team is shitting their pants with the pressure.

What’s PoE?

[mvaliz]

It’s not Blizzard who’s developing Diablo Immortal. They are only curating it and approving stuff. That game is taking very little resources of Blizzard.

That, and I'm betting a year from now they're going to attempt to re-push D:I again to do exactly what that person was saying - in a (very sad) attempt to keep the Diablo base playacted while they keep focus/extend the time D4 has.

- - - Updated - - -

What’s PoE?

I believe it's Path of Exile.

He's been touting that as an impetus for a week now, and it's really horseshit. Why compete when they can just wait until any PoE hype dies away a year+ later?

I mean, how many Diablo clones happened between D2 and D3? Sure as spit didn't seem to effect that game's release date timing.

[Truhan]

What’s PoE?

Path of Exile, you can play it free on Steam, Xbox One, or PS4. I highly recommend you check it out, it's a damn good game and has 10+ Acts I believe. Just be ready for all the exalted orb seller spamming.

[quras]

Given how long it took D3 to come out when blizzard brought it up. D4 is a really long way off. Being told not even blizzard "soon" should tell you all you need to know.

Hell, the only reason they brought it up at all is because they needed to do their best to hype this blizzcon because of the massively bad PR they have had recently.

D4 will likely be farther off than D3 was when it was announced, so I wouldn't expect to see anything till 2023 - 2024 at a minimum. So far off that anything blizzard even mentions can be thrown in the trash as blizzard has a bad habit of saying one thing and then doing another when it comes to things like this and opening their mouths when they shouldn't about features that are not 100% in game.

[Beefhammer]

Given how long it took D3 to come out when blizzard brought it up. D4 is a really long way off. Being told not even blizzard "soon" should tell you all you need to know.

Hell, the only reason they brought it up at all is because they needed to do their best to hype this blizzcon because of the massively bad PR they have had recently.

D4 will likely be farther off than D3 was when it was announced, so I wouldn't expect to see anything till 2023 - 2024 at a minimum. So far off that anything blizzard even mentions can be thrown in the trash as blizzard has a bad habit of saying one thing and then doing another when it comes to things like this and opening their mouths when they shouldn't about features that are not 100% in game.

If by recently you mean last years Blizzcon then sure. If you mean the recent HS stuff, then you are wrong. In June, almost half a year before the HS thing, they knew they were showing OW2 and D4.