Everything We Know About Diablo 4 (So Far)

It’s been over a decade since Diablo 3 released, so it’s about time we get a true sequel. Diablo 4 is one of the most anticipated games of 2023, and it’s sure to be a big deal regardless of how good it is. It’s safe to say that the Diablo franchise has had its fair share of controversy over the last few years, but it’s good to see it back on the right track again. In this article, we’ll cover all the Diablo 4 news we have so far, and we’ll list some important dates as well!

Diablo 4’s release date is currently set for June 6, 2023. That puts it right in the middle of the summer, launching right around the same time as Street Fighter 6 and Final Fantasy XVI. Needless to say, it’ll have some competition. As always, though, this release date could change. If Diablo fans have learned anything, it’s that no release date is ever final until the game is out.

It will be available on PC via the Battle.net client, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, and PS5.

Diablo 4 is going to run two beta weekends in March. Players who pre-order the game will get to experience the early access beta from March 17–19. Everyone else gets the open beta from March 24–26. The beta will be available on all platforms the game will be on.

According to Blizzard, players will be able to experience the first part of the campaign during the beta. This will include the prologue and all of the first act. We’ll get to explore an entire zone, “Fractured Peaks,” and it seems that this experience will be fairly complete. Player levels will be capped at 25 for the beta, but Blizzard did say we’ll be able to continue playing for as long as we want while the beta is active.

As always, betas aren’t meant to be perfect. Blizzard made it clear that some problems are to be expected, so don’t expect it to be a perfect picture of Diablo 4’s gameplay. The point of the beta is to test the game for issues before release, while also giving players the chance to check it out early. It’s a win-win, so be sure to check it out in March!

On the Diablo 4 website, there is quite a bit of information about some of the classes we’ll get to play as. Here’s a quick rundown of each:

Barbarian: A strong warrior “with a weapon for every occasion.” It’s an aggressive class that gets up close and personal.

Druid: A shapeshifter with mastery of the elements. This class has a range of abilities, and is also implied to have a connection to nature which it will be able to utilize in combat.

Necromancer: The darkest class, by far. It allows players to lean into their more evil side and take advantage of “forbidden secrets”.

Rogue: This class has access to better ranged options than most others, without giving up the ability to get close if necessary. It’s a fast-paced, agile class with an element of stealth.

Sorcerer: A class that focuses mostly on spells and magic. Every game like this its spell slinging class, and this one is no different. And that’s a good thing.

The world of Diablo 4 is called Sanctuary. In a YouTube video about this world, Harrison Pink (credited as Senior Quest Designer II), called it “the battleground for the souls of humanity and the fight between angels and demons.” That hypes it up quite a lot, so expectations are certainly high.

One of the major points about this game’s world is that it is intended to be as immersive as possible. It is said to have realism elements that make the world easier to get immersed in, and the art team has spent tons of time trying to create a world that both feels well-developed and has a cool aesthetic at the same time. Pulling off that balance will be difficult and we won’t know how well they’ve done it until June, but from what we’ve seen, it certainly looks promising.

Sanctuary will be split into five sections, which the developers are referring to as “zones.” They also mentioned each area being inspired by real-life locations. Here’s a quick description of each based on the short clips from the video:

Kehjistan: Desert with sand dunes everywhere. Inspired by general middle-eastern geography.

Scosglen: Rainy and green with a moody atmosphere. Inspired by Scotland.

Fractured Peaks: Snowy and mountainous. Inspired by the Carpathian Mountains in eastern Europe.

The Dry Steppes: A “mountainous desert region.” No direct inspiration for this area was given, and not enough has been shown for a good approximation to be given yet.

Haweza: A “swampy region in the south.” Inspired by swampy regions in general.

The world is designed to be realistic, meaning it will transition subtly from zone to zone. This will likely be great to experience, and will help us remain immersed instead of waiting for a loading screen or jarring transition. Even the dungeons will change depending on where they are. All of this, combined with the enemies and monsters that will populate these worlds, is worth getting excited for. If it’s as good as it seems, it’ll make it a world to remember for a long time to come.

We don’t know a ton about the story of Diablo 4 yet, but here’s what we do know based on some trailers and spare information.

As always, there is a religious theme to Diablo 4. We see a man praying at the start of the Diablo 4 announcement trailer, which makes sense considering it’s literally a game about angels and demons. If there wasn’t some strange religious element to the game, that would be more surprising. But it’s going to be about far more than just that. From that trailer alone we get elements of treasure hunting, ancient magic, betrayal, “forbidden” magic, and plenty of occult themes. While we don’t know a ton yet, we definitely know that it’s going to get really strange and dark.

To avoid spoilers for those who don’t want to know too much, we recommend just checking out the trailers Blizzard has released so far if you want to know. They recently released the opening cinematic for Diablo 4, which has some information about both the story and world, so that’s a great place to start. There will probably be more before the game actually releases, so stay on the look out!

As with every game these days, Diablo 4 has multiple versions available for pre-order. We don’t know if these versions will be the same after release, so make sure and double check before buying in any case. Also, we could always miss something, so always double check before spending this much money. Here’s what you get in each version (for stuff that we know will only be relevant as a pre-order, we’ll note it with an asterisk):

The game itself

Open beta early access on March 17*

Light Bearer mount

Diablo III content – Inarius Wings & Inarius Murloc Pet

World of Warcraft content – Amalgam of Rage Mount

Diablo Immortal content – Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetics Set

Everything from standard edition

Up to 4 days early access to the game before actual release date*

Temptation mount

Hellborn Carapace mount armor

Premium Seasonal Battle Pass unlock

Everything from standard and digital deluxe editions, except the Premium Seasonal Battle Pass. Ultimate edition owners get an improved version of the battle pass instead, so they don’t miss out on anything.

Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass unlock

Wings of the Creator emote

That’s all the Diablo 4 news we currently have — we hope you’re just as excited as we are! It’s been a long wait, so hopefully it’ll be worth it in the end. Feel free to check out more of our content while you’re here, and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date!

Happy gaming!