Diablo 4's Annual Expansions Confirmed
Diablo 4's General Manager, Rod Fergusson, in a recent interview, confirmed that game developer Blizzard is actively working on annual expansions for the game.
Player's Anticipation for More Content
Ever since the hit release of Diablo 4, players have expressed a yearning for more content. Season of the Malignant has somewhat satisfied this hunger, offering a fresh challenge and enabling players to explore new worlds with new characters in pursuit of unique builds. However, while these seasonal releases like the forthcoming Season 2 do provide fresh content, players are eagerly anticipating more substantial expansions. Well-loved expansions such as Diablo 2’s Lord of Destruction and Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls have set high expectations for Diablo 4’s future releases.
Given where the storyline left off in the campaign, players are looking forward to continue the narrative in future installments. Although it's known that several expansions are in the pipeline, the release window has remained unclear up until now. According to a recent interview with Diablo 4's General Manager, Rod Fergusson, the game is set to receive annual expansions.
Blizzard's Future Plans for the Diablo Series
During the interview, when discussing the future plans for Diablo 4, Fergusson mentioned 'quarterly seasons' and 'annual expansions', offering insight into Blizzard's scheduling considerations for the Diablo series. Here's the complete dialogue:
Patrick Dane: This is a broader question – how long does the future of Diablo 4 go? How far does that vision go? You know, we’ve come through the launch, which had this really nice condensed campaign. And now we’re at the seasonal stuff, so, like how long does that live?
Rod Fergusson: Yeah, I mean, obviously, that’s like how long is a piece of string. But, you know, it’s years and years. That’s the thing we’re focused on. When you look at the launch of the game and this first season, we see that as building a foundation on which we can build for the future. So, as we look at our quarterly seasons, and we look at our annual expansions, those are the things that we’re really focused on for our live service. We’ve got plans, we have storylines that go well into the future. We’ve got plans. We’re always leapfrogging our seasons, and leapfrogging our expansions, so it’s something we are going to do for a long time. We’re excited. When you look back and realise that there were 11 years between D3 and D4, that feels like we didn’t live up to our players, our community, and what they deserve. That’s something we are rectifying in D4 with our seasons and our expansions.'
In light of the planned quarterly seasons and annual expansions, it's clear that Blizzard's release pattern for Diablo 4 is leaning towards that of Destiny 2. Despite the fact that game developments are prone to change, one could draw from Fergusson's words that Blizzard could be eyeing the summer of the coming year for the potential next expansion – one year from the release of the game.