Diablo 4 is the upcoming installment in the popular ARPG series and relies more heavily on MMO elements than Diablo has done before. As part of Find Your Next Game LOVE, MeinMMO was able to ask the developers a few questions about co-op and other features. We now know more about how you can play together.
Diablo 4 will be released on June 6th on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game isn’t supposed to be an MMO, but it uses many features from the genre. Information about the game can be found in our special:
To better prepare you for what’s to come in Diablo 4, MeinMMO spoke to Diablo 4’s Assistant Game Director, Joe Piepiora.
Piepiora has been with Blizzard for over 5 years, back then as the lead designer on Heroes of the Storm. He previously worked on Lord of the Rings Online and as Lead Systems Designer on Wildstar. We mainly asked him about multiplayer in Diablo 4.
We already know that Diablo 4 gets the best features from its predecessors. In the video you will learn everything we know about Diablo 4:
Diablo 4 takes the best features from its predecessors – This is how it looks so far
More videos
“Play the campaign together – no matter how far along you are”
MeinMMO: Can I play the campaign together even if the players have different levels of progress? How does sharing missions work?
Joe Piepiora: Yes you can! If you join another player’s party, the world and campaign will seamlessly update to reflect the progress of that game. This allows you to team up with friends and enjoy the campaign together, no matter where in the campaign each player is. If you’ve already completed a quest that the other player is stuck on, you won’t get the reward for completing it again, but you’ll still earn experience and loot from everything you do along the way.
MeinMMO: Can I join an online group with my local co-op partner?
Joe Piepiora: Yes you can, we do not limit multiplayer functionality for local co-op in any way.
MeinMMO: What advantages do clans have? Is there a meta system like in Diablo Immortal?
Joe Piepiora: Clans do not bring Force technical benefits to Diablo 4 at launch. They exist to help build communities of like-minded players who end up creating groups of players and sharing tips and strategies.
“PvP gear shouldn’t be stronger or easier to get”
MeinMMO: What are the rewards in PvP?
Joe Piepiora: Players who enter the Fields of Hatred can exchange their hard-earned Red Dust for special cosmetic rewards and random gear. The gear you find in PvP isn’t meant to be stronger or easier to obtain than other experiences in Sanctuary, but rather an alternative for our… bloodthirsty players.
MeinMMO: How did you like the first previews?
Joe Piepiora: That reminds me of a quote. “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
Diablo 4 has been in development for years and has been under wraps most of the time. A project like this is one that you invest a lot in yourself, and the Diablo universe is one that many of us grew up with. That’s why it’s so important that we deliver an experience that we’re proud of. At some point though, perfect or not, it’s time to unfurl the sails and set sail.
It was enormously grateful to read the feedback and opinions of the people who have had the opportunity to play the game up until now. To finally let the game speak and deliver the experience we’ve been building all this time.
You can find the relevant reviews here:
First tests explain the gameplay of Diablo 4: Here are 5 cool details – And 2 that annoy
MeinMMO: Will there be any changes to the release version based on feedback from journalists and players?
Joe Piepiora: We’ve made some adjustments to the difficulty and polished the tutorial based on feedback from journalists. We’ve made broader changes based on player feedback from the closed beta. One element was reducing the number of world tiers from 5 to 4 to provide a less fragmented experience for higher difficulty players. We’ve also made major balance changes across all classes to ensure there are many builds of equal value for players.
MeinMMO: Thanks for the answers!
That Diablo 4 will be good is not only a wish of the developers. The upcoming Hack’n’Slay carries more on its shoulders than just the success of a single game or even its franchise, but is an important milestone for the future of its entire genre:
What Diablo IV means for the fate of all hack’n’slays