Diablo 4 might be revealed at BlizzCon 2016
All aboard the hype train! Recent rumors are suggesting that Blizzard Entertainment might announce Diablo 4 at this year’s BlizzCon, which kicks off on 4 November. Blizzard has not officially announced a new project for the Diablo franchise, so until they do, you should take this “evidence” of Diablo 4 with a large helping of salt.
A four-sided dice sparks rumors
Blizzard sent out Goodie Bags filled with merchandise from their various game franchises to popular YouTubers and other content creators ahead of BlizzCon. You can now purchase the Goodie Bag online, but an early version of the bag received by YouTuber Rhykker contained a misprinted four-sided dice which sparked the theory that Blizzard could unveil Diablo 4 at BlizzCon.
In the Goodie Bag is a D&D-style, Diablo-themed dice bag, which contains a set of die including a four-sided dice, known as the D4. That alone isn’t much to go on. However, the only dice misprinted is the D4 and the specific way it is misprinted is suspicious to say the least.
PCGamesN’s Ben Barret explains the significance of the misprint:
“D4 are designed as pyramids, with three numbers printed on each face. Whichever edge lands downwards indicates the number you’ve hit - so all the 1s should be along one set of edges, all the 2s on another. This is not true on these Diablo ones, where one of the faces is on the wrong side meaning instead of an edge reading 1 1 1, it reads 1 1 4. A four out of place.” - Source
If it was almost any other developer, one could argue that it was just a printing mistake on the early Goodie Bags; but this is Blizzard Entertainment we are talking about, known for their high quality products and an extreme amount of polish on anything they release.
If that’s not enough, there is one interesting bit of information I actually mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article, but might not have seemed relevant until now. BlizzCon 2016 starts on 4 November, which is…you guessed it, 11/4.
But there’s more. Although the next piece of evidence doesn’t suggest a BlizzCon reveal, it does prove that there is at the very least something in the works relating to the Diablo franchise.
New job listing for Game Director
Earlier this year I reported that Blizzard are hiring for a new, unannounced game set in the Diablo universe. The job listings are for a Senior Concept Artist, Senior Character Artist and Lightning Artist. Now, a new job listing was posted on Blizzard’s website for the same unannounced project for a Game Director.
The Game Director position's requirements according to the job listing are:
"Knowledgeable and passionate about Diablo games
A minimum of 5 years’ directing video game development
Shipped multiple AAA products as a game director or creative director
Outstanding communications and relationship-building skills
Recognized ability to guide and inspire large development teams
Able to work well in a team environment and communicate effectively with all development disciplines: programming, art, design, sound, and production
Exhibited ability to coach and mentor employees at all levels of an organization
Great sense for what makes a game fun to play
Unrelenting self-motivation and initiative
Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience" - Source
As if the first point in the requirements isn’t enough to get the hype train going, Blizzard mentions that a plus when applying for the job is experience in “developing online games, action games, and / or role-playing games.”
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