Diablo 4's 2025 Roadmap Disappoints Hardcore Fans, Puzzles Former Blizzard President

Diablo 4 has recently unveiled its first content roadmap, giving fans a glimpse into what they can expect in 2025, with hints of what's to come in 2026. In an exclusive IGN interview, game director Brent Gibson delved into the roadmap, discussing the upcoming second expansion and potential IP collaborations. However, the release of the roadmap has sparked a wave of concern among the Diablo 4 community, with many questioning the sufficiency of the planned content for 2025.

"Oh boy! Can't wait for new Helltide color and temporary powers," remarked redditor Inangelion sarcastically. "It's gonna be so dope!"

This sentiment is echoed by many dedicated Diablo 4 players who were hoping for more substantial content in the upcoming seasons.

"A new season in other ARPGs is like 'let's introduce a housing system where you can build a home base with vendors that provide unique gear' or 'let's implement a shipping system where traders from different regions bring materials that allow for class-altering item upgrades,'" explained feldoneq2wire. "In D4, it's more about 'what color are we making Helltides this time?' and 'what new powers and reputation skins are we introducing?'"

Fragrantbutte, a fan of the game, expressed disappointment, saying, "I'm not a Diablo 4 hater, I love the game, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of substantial content planned, which is a bit disappointing."

Artyfowl444 added, "'And more' is doing a lot of heavy lifting here."

The online debate grew so intense that Diablo community manager Lyricana_Nightrayne felt compelled to respond on the Diablo 4 subreddit, stating, "We've kept some details out of the later parts of the roadmap to allow for ongoing development. This isn't all that's coming in 2025 :)"

Mike Ybarra, former president of Blizzard Entertainment and a corporate executive at Microsoft, weighed in on the debate via a post on X/Twitter.

"Don't ship just to check a box," Ybarra advised. "Seasons need to break the cycle of shipping, spending two months fixing issues, and then repeating.

"Pause and give the team time to truly address end-game issues. Playing for a week to then one or three shot an 'uber' boss 500 times for a unique item, then quitting until the next season, is fundamentally not fun.

"Expansions should be released annually, not biennially. Reduce the focus on 'story' elements, which are costly for a one-time experience in an ARPG, and instead focus on introducing new classes, enemy types, and end-game activities that last longer than a few days.

"If the cycle continues without addressing the fundamental issues, then I'm not sure where Diablo is headed. You can add as many end-game activities as you want, but you'll be running in place with the same problems. At some point, the effort becomes not worth it."

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Gameplay Screenshots

73 ImagesConcerns about the expansions stem from the delay of the second expansion, originally planned for 2025 but now set for 2026. Blizzard had intended to release expansions annually, but after launching "Vessel of Hatred" in 2024, the second expansion will miss 2025.

In our interview, Gibson discussed the challenges of developing Diablo 4 as a live service game, balancing free seasonal content with major paid expansions.

"I definitely feel like gamers are more hungry than they've ever been," Gibson noted. "And even if you meet their expectations today, those expectations can change tomorrow. You have to be ready to adapt because priorities can shift quickly based on other game releases or changes within our own game. Sometimes, we discover something exciting and want to incorporate it to shake things up.

"This is a new way of developing, with high community interaction. Diablo has a diverse player base, from casual to hardcore, with various subgroups within. Our approach is to focus on different aspects important to these groups each season.

"For example, in Season 8, we're addressing feedback on boss lairs with quality of life improvements for players who focus on this gameplay type. In Season 9, we might shift to enhancing nightmare dungeons. This allows us to cater to different player groups at different times, culminating in an expansion that addresses everyone's needs with a significant update."

Diablo 4 Season 8 is set to launch later in April, followed by Season 9 in the summer, and Season 10 later in the year.