Diablo IV brings back Blizzard's famous fracnchise, with (maybe) less drama

Diablo IV. Screenshot: Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo IV launches this week, extending a series that makes as many headlines for its quality as for the drama perpetually surrounding it.

Why it matters: For the past decade, Diablo's creators at Blizzard and parent corp Activision Blizzard have used the massively popular franchise to test new business models.

Be smart: Diablo games, birthed on PC in the late '90s but now also offered on consoles, provide players some of the medium's most elemental and compelling gameplay loops.

Details: For 2012's Diablo III, Activision Blizzard required a then-novel persistent online connection, even when played solo.

Diablo III also previewed the NFT craze — and backlash — with the launch and failure of its real money auction house.

Diablo fans howled again in 2018, when Blizzard announced plans for a mobile spinoff — though such a move has since become the norm.

What's next: The biggest drama for Diablo IV may be yet to come, as Blizzard attempts to fully convert the series into the live service format.

Yes, but: There's also the drama of what Diablo IV is not — namely, a Microsoft-published game.

Thought bubble: I’m currently a level 24 Druid in my copy of Diablo IV, capable of turning into a bear and summoning boulders to roll into enemies.

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