Blizzard’sDiablo Immortalhas found itself in a precarious position facing a unique problem for the long-running action RPG series. In December 2024’s Shattered Sanctuary expansion, players faced off against the most powerful rendition of Diablo thus far in the series, toppling the eponymous Lord of Terror and concluding a years-long narrative arc. As an ongoing live-service title, however,Diablo Immortal’s story must continue. This begs the question: How will Blizzard approachDiablo Immortal’s narrative with its key villain out of the picture? WhileDiablo 4has thus far achieved this by focusing instead on Lililth, the Daughter of Hatred, even in that game, Diablo’s threatening presence still looms.
Game Rant sat down withDiablo Immortalsenior narrative designer Ryan Quinn to discuss this very question among other narrative topics. While Quinn admits that it’s a unique challenge for the team to press on without Al’Diabolos—as he is truly named—Quinn says that both Blizzard and the denizens of Sanctuary are up to the task of finding the next bad guy to take down. Based on the2025 roadmap forDiablo Immortalrecently published by Blizzard, Sanctuary bears no shortage of threats to eliminate.
Diablo Games Don’t Need Diablo to Be Alive
Quinn notes that it was a risky move to introduceDiablo as a boss inDiablo Immortal, but that Diablo’s importance isn’t just in his presence. Quinn says that, although Diablo is a focal character, the story is mostly about the impact left in his wake. Hordes of demons, cultists, and other shady characters have risen due to his influence, and the inhabitants of Sanctuary, the High Heavens, and the Burning Hells all have much going on regardless of Diablo’s physical status. Quinn elaborates:
“Yeah, it is challenging when you say that the character whose name is on the box isn’t going to be the focal character. There’s definitely a risk involved in that decision. But, based on our long experience with making Diablo games, we’ve found that Diablo sets the tone for the universe, and Diablo himself establishes that atmosphere. However, he’s not the only thing going on in Sanctuary.
We had a really good experience with Malthael as a focus character. We had a great experience with Baal, his brother, even though he wasn’t outwardly villainous—he was still a scary character. We also had a successful experience with Imperius as a focus character. So, my take on that is, yes, it’s challenging, but Sanctuary is up to the challenge. It’s a very diverse world. It was a mess before Diablo showed up, and it will still be a mess in the time period when he’s not directly menacing people.”
It’s often the case thatplayers inDiablogamesare solving problems that may have once been caused by Diablo but have taken a life of their own. One example is Albrecht—a key antagonist in the upcoming content. Once the mortal host of Diablo, Albrecht now has plans of his own, and Diablo being out of the picture suits Albrecht perfectly fine.
Diablo Immortal Can Now Tell New Stories
In fact, having Diablo out of play carries storytelling benefits fortheDiablo Immortalteam. Tying off this last story arc and eliminating its central antagonist gives the team room to tell new stories that focus on aspects of Diablo’s world that don’t receive as much attention. Quinn says that this will manifest in the various factions players will encounter later this year:
“This opens up space for all these other, often offbeat or unusual factions to shine—things we wouldn’t normally focus on. This approach allows us to strike that balance for Diablo fans that’s so important to us: 50% familiar, bridging the gap between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, but also 50% new. We want to show players some fresh, novel content from perspectives that haven’t been explored before in Diablo games.”
Players will be dealing with covens of witches, an organization of druids, and townsfolk bystanders in the upcoming content, each group with unique dynamics between the others, and with competing goals. Soon, Quinn says, players will be faced with meaningful, impactful decisions in Diablo Immortal that will help shape their personal version of Sanctuary. Even withDiablo gone inDiablo Immortal, Blizzard still has plenty left up its sleeve.
