D3 is from the old school of Blizzard game design philosophy - put out a good expansion, support it for a while longer then move on. Thing is, this expectation is actually quite new - aside from WoW, they didn't start treating all their games as a service until Hearthstone, HotS and Overwatch. It's still better than what most devs do for their games this long after release, but the fans see it as a blemish on Blizzard's modern reputation of continuing to make real patches for their games forever. Maybe Blizzcon 2018 will give series fans the treat they’ve been hoping for.ĭ3 is effectively in maintenance mode now.

A rumored Nintendo Switch port of Diablo 3 may help them wring out a few more bucks from the project, though. It is extremely unlikely that a Diablo 4 would be a one-and-done purchase offering now that Blizzard has proven that microtransactions are a much better return on their investment. It may simply be time to say our goodbyes and begin hope that a new Diablo experience may be on the horizon. In its early years, the game had a real money auction house where Blizzard skimmed something off the top of every transaction, but it was shut down due to player backlash. Unlike their steady cash cows WoW, Hearthstone, or Overwatch, Diablo offers Blizzard no steady income. It costs money to keep the servers up and running (and by nature of the game’s design, it is unplayable without these servers).

It is a single-purchase product that saw only one major expansion (and one new character expansion later on) and and offers the company no revenue for any new resources invested.

Understandably, Blizzard is probably ready to put the project out to pasture.

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