Diablo IV is one of the most-anticipated games of 2023, and it will have been more than a decade since the launch of its predecessor by the time it releases. Announced in 2019 and shown off several times during the succeeding years, Diablo IV is shaping up to be a very ambitious game from Blizzard, adopting an open-ended structure and a shared world for a more seamless transition from single-player to multiplayer gameplay. Blizzard has shared lots of information on the action-RPG, including details about its classes, locations, and more. Here is everything we know about Diablo IV so far.

Release Date And Platforms

Diablo IV is set to release on June 6, 2023. This will put it about 11 years after the release of Diablo III, which first launched on PC before later coming to consoles.

The release plan is different for Diablo IV, which was announced for consoles and PC at the same time. Alongside PC (via Battle.net), Diablo IV will launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4. Diablo III and Diablo II: Resurrected both also came to Nintendo Switch, but that platform has not been announced for Diablo IV.

The Story So Far

Set after the events of Diablo III’s Reaper of Souls expansion, Diablo IV’s story is set to be a darker tale than we saw in the previous game–similar to Diablo II. The demonic villain Lilith is shown during a resurrection ceremony in an early trailer, and we know that we’ll be able to work for the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye during the game. This organization was present in both original games, and you’ll be able to turn in ears from fallen enemies to use as upgrades.

Diablo IV isn’t structured linearly like Diablo III. Instead, the shared open-world environment is yours to explore, and you can freely roam and conquer enemy strongholds if you don’t want to stick to completing the main questlines right away. With a horse, you can more quickly traverse the environment, as well, which should encourage more exploration.

There are five different regions that make up Diablo IV’s Sanctuary setting:

• Fractured Peaks (snowy mountains)
• Dry Steppes (desert)
• Hawezar (swamps)
• Scosglen (coastal forests)
• Kehjistan (ruins)

These five regions are split into various sub-regions, each offering its own unique environmental style. Overall, the world is bigger than all previous Diablo maps combined.

Diablo 4 is set up as a shared open-world online game with multiple dungeons and regions that players can choose to explore. Whereas other Diablo games followed a more linear story progression with Acts, Diablo 4 is said to offer more freedom with where you want to go and what you want to do even with an ongoing story. During BlizzConline, it was revealed that players will be able to freely roam the map, conquering enemy strongholds and taking them for themselves, and even discovering corrupted zones known as the Fields of Hatred. In our chat with art director John Mueller during BlizzConline, he stated that players will be able to have a greater sense of appreciation for the world with its new structure.

“We’re creating this open world of Sanctuary for the first time, where it’s a connective space. You can get on your mount and go from the harsh horrid coasts, all the way to the deserts, and then going through different regions along the way,” he said. “Everything has a place now, so the history, the lore, everything you’ve heard about Diablo, it’s no longer just a 2D representation that you click and go to a map. You’re traversing the space on your horse, and it’s a really different kind of experience. I think for the genre and for Diablo players, I know it’s something people are going to enjoy.”

Diablo 4’s Gameplay

Diablo 4 isn’t straying far from its roots as an isometric, dungeon-crawling action-RPG. The Diablo series is built around the loot and gear grind as you level up from fighting hordes of enemies and tough bosses, and there’s now more options for you to acquire more loot and ascend in power. As stated previously, Diablo IV is now an open-world action-RPG, what this allows for is more freedom to explore and more opportunities to engage in new activities. Along with main quests, you can also find world events happening in the world, allowing you to sync up with other players to take down large targets or raid dangerous dungeons.

Some of the standout features that’ve been announced are PvP battles, mounts for faster traversal, and character build customization tools. Specifically, Rune Words (a feature from Diablo 2) are the way to tune your character and further tweak how they function–attaching rune words grants different effects and stat buffs. All classes also have skill ranks and talent trees that you’ll progress through as you level up. Skills and talent trees will be vast for each class and Blizzard said that players will only have around 40% of skills unlocked by the time they reach the endgame. Along with that, the endgame will also introduce a new meta-leveling system similar to the Paragon levels from Diablo III, though not much has been said about how that will work at this time.

Diablo 4 will be an always-online game in a persistent world shared with other players, even for those who wish to go about things as a solo experience. However, multiplayer is a big factor in the Diablo experience–enemies will scale to the party’s levels and dungeons will be separate instances with various difficulty options. This also extends to the new PvP gameplay with the Fields of Hatred. In these zones, players can fight for loot against more challenging monsters and escape with your haul to keep it. In similar fashion to The Division‘s Dark Zones, it blends PvE with PvP.

Returning for Diablo IV is the +Skill Rank affix system, which sees skills grow in “potency” as more points are spent on them. If a player finds an item with a skill they haven’t acquired yet, they’re also able to use that ability anyway. You will also get special legendary powers via items, including armor or accessories, and these are not tied to specific unique items–that means you have a much better chance of actually getting the ability in question than you would in the past.

As players earn skill points, they’ll be able to unlock more titles on the Paragon Board. There are several types of tiles ranging from “Normal” to “Legendary,” with only one of the latter available on each board. There are also Socket tiles with special Glyphs, as well as a single Glyph tile you can use to unlock a second Paragon board connected to the first.

Diablo 4’s Character Classes

Diablo IV includes five character classes: Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, and Sorcerer. When compared to previous Diablo games, the classes of Diablo IV will be far more customizable, allowing for a deeper focuses on build management and designing the look of your chosen archetype on their journey.

Barbarian

The Barbarian class is your archetypal heavy melee tank class in Diablo IV, with two-handed weapons delivering massive blows and dual-wielded weapons offering quicker strikes. This class features an “arsenal” system for weapon slots so you can switch between up to four weapons on the fly, and attacks like dash strikes and war cries allow you to control enemy clusters and keep others safe.

Druid

The Druid is a nature-wielding shapeshifter who is capable of taking many different forms, depending on the situation. These include both a bear and a wolf, and the Druid can even change forms mid-attack for more complex strategies. The earth, wind, and storm are all under a Druid’s control making for an eclectic mix of abilities.

Necromancer

Returning from Diablo III’s DLC, the Necromancer class is, as the name suggests, capable of conjuring an undead army. Three death-focused bastions–Bone, Blood, and Shadow–are all at a Necromancer’s disposal. Along with your skeleton army, you’ll also be able to wield a scythe, the classic weapon of any self-respecting grim reaper.

Sorceror/Sorceress

A classic mage-style class, the Sorceror and Sorceress are able to harness several different elements to deal damage. These include ice, lightning, and fire, which should provide them with plenty of options against Sanctuary’s varied enemies. They can even turn into a ball of lightning and shoot across the map, dealing plenty of damage and escaping sticky situations.

Rogue

If you liked the Demon Hunter in Diablo III and were disappointed to see it missing in Diablo IV, then the returning Diablo 1 Rogue class is for you. This class uses short swords and bows, as well as speed-focused and stealth-focused moves. Rogues excel in both close-range and long-range combat, and you can also apply shadow or poison effects to deal extra damage in the middle of your speedy, flashy combo attacks.

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Where To Find More On Diablo 4

We’ve been covering Diablo 4 since its reveal, and there are a ton of finer details about the game. If you want more check out our stories below:

Open-world activities

There are several activity categories in Diablo IV, including cellars, which are shorter scenarios with less-grandiose rewards, as well as longer dungeons that feature winding pathways and bigger boss fights.

There are also public activities that benefit from Diablo IV’s shared-world structure, such as strongholds, which see groups battling against a number of enemies in camps. Later on, players will also encounter World Bosses, though these will be optional, and the story quests will not require any cooperation between random players or groups.

Development controversies

Blizzard has had plenty of controversies over the past few years, many related to allegations of harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. These led to firings and resignations, and Diablo IV’s development team has also been affected by this. The original director and lead designer were both fired, and in a report from the Washington Post, current developers on the game said they have experienced crunch as they’ve struggled to hit deadlines. Internal release dates for the game have reportedly shifted several times, and turnover at the studio has been high.

Blizzard will still be revealing more information on Diablo IV as we approach its 2023 release. This will likely include more footage of the five classes, more information on enemies and locations, and more endgame teases. The final release date is set for June 6, 2023, but you can play Diablo II Resurrected across consoles and PC while you wait. For more, check out GameSpot’s hands-on Diablo IV preview.