After years of rumors and growing speculation, Blizzard Entertainment has finally confirmed the fourth installment of the Diablo franchise.
The company announced Diablo 4 on Friday during the opening cermonies of BlizzCon 2019, and then treated fans to the sequel's first-ever gameplay trailer. It was gritty, cinematic, and, above all, classic Diablo.
"The first thing you will notice is we are going back to the franchise's darker roots," game director Luis Barriga said during the event, as reported by Game Spot. "It'll mean blood and gore. It'll mean occult symbols and rituals. More importantly, it'll mean victories are neither clean nor guaranteed."
He continued: "We've only seen glimpses into Sanctuary in previous Diablo games, but those glimpses have enthralled us and captured our imaginations. With Diablo 4, we want to put the world of Sanctuary front and center. We want every character, every monster, every faction to have a sense of place."
There's also a nine-minute cinematic clip that's wowing fans:
Diablo 4 will mark the franchise's first installment since 2012; before that was a 12-year wait between games. Blizzard said the latest entry is being developed with "modern technology that pushes the franchise to dark, new depths." The company has not announced Diablo 4's official drop date, but it'll reportedly be released on PC, PS4, and, Xbox One.
