During BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard Entertainment revealed a new expansion for Diablo 4. Polygon spoke to the developers about the new class and what to expect
During BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard Entertainment revealed what many Diablo players knew was coming — a new expansion for Diablo 4. Vessel of Hatred will expand upon the events that took place through the campaign and introduce a new class to the roster that has never been seen before in the Diablo universe. Polygon spoke with members of the core development team for Diablo 4 to ask about the various production cycles the now-live service game has gone through, and how the team plans to deliver content and make adjustments through planned updates.
“Because we are developing along a lot of different lanes of development — the live game, the seasons, the expansion — all of these things happen at once. It’s about making sure we have the right people, and the right number of people supporting each of those efforts and that we’re able to deliver the game and changes we want to make in a sustainable way,” said Diablo 4 lead producer Kaydie Calder when asked about the production schedules for the slew of Diablo 4 content that is expected to arrive before and after the Vessel of Hatred expansion. “So even though we have teams on Seasons, teams on Live, and teams on the expansion, we’re still one big team. But everyone is focusing in different groups on the areas that they need to.”
Diablo 4’s Season of the Malignant was panned by players due to how the Sorcerer, among other classes, got rebalanced. Rewards were also seen as lackluster, with the endgame not as engaging as players had hoped from the otherwise acclaimed entry in the series. Players also had complaints about the numerous quality-of-life features still missing from the game, such as gems not having their own storage tab to free up space so players could pick up loot without needing to teleport back to town as frequently.
