It is no secret that Diablo 4 exists in some form. Ahead of Blizzcon last year, rumors swarmed that a reveal was imminent. According to Blizzard, these claims were false. Might an official announcement take place sometime this year? That presently remains unclear. However, what does seem clear is one obvious fact–Diablo 4 will not hit store shelves this calendar year. Though, reportedly, employees at Blizzard have seen the title in action.
This news, which isn’t too surprising, comes via a story from French publication, Le Monde. The report in Le Monde, translated by Icy Veins, noted the following about Blizzard’s upcoming projects, namely Diablo 4 and another Overwatch project:
What about the future? Teams at Blizzard Entertainment have already been presented with the long-awaited Diablo 4 and know that a new Overwatch game is in development. But neither of these two games will be released before 2020, at the very best, and employees at Versailles have no idea if they will still be around when they eventually release. ‘Activision Blizzard will be making less of a profit, but this will still amount to a lot of profit,’ says a veteran employee.
The most recent details on Diablo 4 suggest that both it and an Overwatch sequel are currently top priority at Blizzard. If true, those two being prioritized came at the expense of a secret StarCraft project, a reportedly cancelled first-person shooter.
The Le Monde story also addressed the negatives of Blizzard’s future plans–the state of Blizzard offices in Paris. While the company revealed the unfortunate news of layoffs for many of its employees a few months ago, most remain unsure of who will be let go and when. Blizzard Versailles, for instance, is home to a workforce of 450. Eventually, Blizzard will lay off about 134 of them.
