Diablo 4's Release Date Is Far Off, Blizzard Says

If you're eager to play Diablo 4, you shouldn't hold your breath. While the game was revealed and playable at BlizzCon 2019, its release date is nowhere near. Blizzard has made it clear the game's as-of-yet unconfirmed launch won't be coming for quite some time.

Before wrapping up a BlizzCon panel, game director Luis Barriga explained that there's no release date attached to Diablo 4 at the moment. "There is much, much more to come. A game of this scope takes time," Barriga said. This is a very, very early first step. We're not coming out soon, not even Blizzard soon. We're just excited to take this first early step in the journey together with you."

Diablo has never been a series to see sequels released quickly, although that has become more extreme over the years. The first title launched in 1996 and received the Hellfire expansion a year later. Diablo 2 hit the market in 2000 and, like the original Diablo, received its expansion, Lord of Destruction, a year later. It would be more than a decade, in 2012, when Diablo 3 made its debut. Diablo 3 received one expansion and an additional character class before Blizzard unveiled Diablo Immortal and the newly-announced Diablo 4.

Despite Diablo 4 not coming out anytime soon, Blizzard has provided a bevy of information about the upcoming action-RPG title. New to the hack-n-slash experience are mounts, which allow you to travel fast and in style. And it turns out that all versions of the game are online-only. We were able to go hands-on with Diablo 4 during BlizzCon and concluded that the shared-world aspect introduced something new to the franchise.