With the reveal of Diablo 5, Blizzard announced that there will be no new expansions for the long-troubled Diablo 4. Despite the end of expansions, Blizzard will still support the live-service game with new content, albeit via seasonal content that disappears when a new season starts.
Seasons in Diablo 4 have been hit or miss, but some are fantastic. For example, the ongoing anniversary season has gone down so well that fans are begging for it to become a permanent addition to the game. (I think all seasonal content should stay, but this one especially needs to stay.)
In a discussion with Icy Veins, Diablo 4 game director Brent Gibson explained that seasons will not only continue until Diablo 5’s release in 2029, but also afterwards. As the fifth game in the series is still set 100 years after the fourth’s story, seasons will be used to push the narrative further.
“The events of D5 happen one hundred years after Diablo IV,” game director Brent Gibson explained. “That’s a massive amount of time. But the Lord of Terror is also learning from the Lord of Hatred. What that does is give us the creative space to tell a story between those two moments in time. We know where we want to go with the story.”
With that said, Brent explained that they “don’t know yet” what direction they will go narratively with upcoming seasons. “The cool thing is three years is a long time,” he said. “So we get to play for a while.”
As for the future of D4, Brent explained that they “have a lot coming”, and fans shouldn’t believe the “end is nigh” for the ARPG. “The train isn’t dropping,” he said. “ One of the things I love about our world is we are not a series of games. We are a universe. We are even adding to Diablo II with the Warlock. It’s one of the few franchises where we have the luxury of continued play, and we know our communities. If you’re worried, don’t sweat it. Because we’re going to be making content for a long time.”
He continued: “We are planning on supporting seasons as long as the community continues to show up for D4. Similar to what we have in D2 and D3. There are still people who play those games, and as long as you’re showing up, we’re going to continue to be making content.”
Brent also explained that “some stuff will move forward”, teasing that older seasonal stories could come back. However, they didn’t explain what content will stay and what content will be axed, and it’s probably better to expect that most of a season’s additions will be sliced off as usual.
While Diablo 4 will continue to receive new content from seasons, there is one line that worrying: “similar to what we have in D2 and D3”. It’s worth noting that Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 seasons are revolving with no new content added to D3 since Season 29 in 2023, the same year that D4 launched.
With this in mind, it is still possible that new seasons will end when Diablo V releases, or maybe a little while after, with old seasons revolving in and out in a similar vein to older games. However, at least for the next three years, if D5 isn’t delayed, we should be treated to more full-fledged seasons.
