A new Dexerto interview revealed the Diablo team’s intention of having large expansions every year for the game!
While we already knew about the seasonal cadence for D4, with a new one every 3 months, the timing of the larger expansions was unclear. But today we got a pretty good idea of Blizzard’s plans on the matter. Franchise General Manager Rod Fergusson talked about the topic with Dexerto’s Patrick Dane and mentioned “annual expansions”. Here’s the full quote:
“RF: 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.”
When Is “Annual”?
Now, whether that means annual as in pretty much exactly a year from the game’s launch is unclear. We might be seeing the expansion as early as next June, but probably not any time before that, and possibly quite a bit later as well. However, it seems pretty definitive that we should be getting the first Diablo 4 expansion in 2024!
With a continuation of the main story and most likely a new class (or classes) coming as well, the expansion is a very big deal. Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls expansions basically saved the game and added crucial long-term features, for example. And while Diablo 4 is evolving with each season and patch, a big shakeup and major content addition is always a good thing. And while all previous Diablo titles only had one expansion to their name, it seems 4 is going to have plenty more! Hopefully at some point in them we actually get to see the big guy himself!
Are you excited for what a potential expansion might bring to Diablo 4? What would you most like to see?
