Blizzard will have a dry year in terms of game releases in 2019, with no big titles planned as Activision went over the company's plans for 2019 during its recent earnings call.
Many were expecting an announcement to be made at last year's Blizzcon
2018 but were left disappointed when a mobile title was revealed instead. Nonetheless, there is still hope as several reports seem to indicate that Blizzard hasn't forgotten about the Diablo series, and there's a chance that we might still receive a new release.
Blizzard's latest hiring spree most likely for the unannounced ‘Diablo 4'
At the beginning of Diablo 3: Season 14, community manager Brandy Camel announced the following:
“The forges here at Blizzard are burning hot. And we have multiple Diablo projects in the works. Some of them are going to take longer than others. But we may have some things to show you later this year. We hope you stay tuned, while we work to bring these Diablo experiences to life. None of this would be possible without the support that you have shown us for over 20 years. So whether you first joined us in Diablo 3 or you are a seasoned veteran, thank you. Diablo is, and always will be, part of Blizzard's identity, and we can't wait for the future.”
This statement hinted that there are multiple Diablo projects in the works. And this also means that there is a possibility of a new game title.
Following the horrible confirmation of more than 800 employees were affected by the recent Activision Blizzard layoffs, the company has also announced that they are looking to focus on hiring for several of their franchises including Overwatch and “other projects” under the Diablo series. Discovered by VGCultureHQ, which one of the openings is for a quest designer:
The Diablo team is looking for a talented content designer with a combined gameplay and storytelling background to help us create play areas, quests, characters, and dialogue for an upcoming project. The ideal candidate must be able to collaborate within design, audio, localization, and engineering groups to efficiently and creatively implement quest-focused content and write compelling game narrative with a firm understanding of how story translates into gameplay.
That being said, it seems that gamers should not be expecting that the company will be pushing out smaller games or any updates to its ongoing titles. At the same time, the company will not be releasing Diablo 4, or anything on that level, for this year. However, gamers can be sure that multiple Diablo titles are on the way as development teams expands, so work on the franchise is definitely ongoing.
