In a surprising move, both Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 appeared at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase today. The former announced its early access release date and a new character, and the latter basically did the same. Fans got a deeper look at Diablo 4, confirming the final class and revealing a release window of 2023.

Per the stipulations of the showcase and a recent Xbox games image too, it seems that Diablo 4 will release within the next 12 months. That puts it in the first half of 2023, surprisingly, but the game is looking good. Diablo is an incredibly popular franchise, even if Diablo Immortal is in the dog house right now, and hopes are high for this fourth numbered entry. It does seem to have a ton of promise, with an approach comparable to Elden Ring’s.

RELATED: Diablo Immortal Has the Lowest User Score in Metacritic History

The Scope of Diablo 4 and Elden Ring

Elden Ring is known for taking the FromSoftware Soulsborne formula and expanding it into an open-world game. It’s not uncommon to see a franchise adopt this popular approach, but Elden Ring is one of few games where the sense of exploration, freedom, mystery, challenge, and reward truly feel like they were done right. FromSoftware essentially took a franchise known for its narrow and tight-level design and completely opened the doors.

With the way developers talked about Diablo 4 during the showcase, it sounds incredibly similar to this. It features an open-world, complete with a nonlinear path in terms of design, and revealed towns update as players progress through the game. The combination of this with Diablo 4’s dungeons, classes, and popular features sounds like opening that very same door.

Of course, the caveat of this comparison is that Elden Ring is out and it’s easy to see how these features were realized, while Diablo 4 is still in development. However, if it utilizes these features properly, Blizzard could see new levels of exploration, freedom, mystery, challenge, and reward worked into the gameplay loop of Diablo 4.

When it comes to video game development, it’s best to never count someone’s eggs before they hatch. Any number of things could change between now and Diablo 4’s release date, but it’s clear that Microsoft intended to leverage all it could at the studio. Diablo 4 added a lot of power to the showcase, and should it be as fully realized as Elden Ring at launch, it could add as much power to the Xbox ecosystem as Elden Ring did to the entire industry.

Diablo 4 releases for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles in 2023.

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