Blizzard explains what Diablo 4's open world will look like

We already know that Diablo 4 will have an open world, but the developers have not yet explained exactly what fans can expect from it.

Now, in an interview with IGN, Blizzard general manager Rod Fergusson said that the game will offer a sense of freedom, but will still guide players through a story with a well-established beginning, middle and end.

“One of the concerns about saying it’s an open-world [game] is that people have this pre-established notion of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, like everything is organic and you can go anywhere to do whatever you want and figure it out all by yourself. But that’s not our story. Our game allows for non-linear exploration, but we have a story with a beginning, middle and end. We want to start in a specific place and end in another specific place.”

The manager added that the story will still have branches, where the player chooses which ones to follow, and that the open world will have enough optional content for those who want to skip the campaign and just explore.

“That’s a cool thing about the open world. There are lots of side quests and activities scattered around the world that you can do that are not in the way of the campaign. Plus the fact that the story is branched and you can decide the order and when you want to do each branch.”

Finally, Fergusson explained that the idea of Diablo 4 was based on creating an open world was an illusion, offering what players want. “Players say they want open worlds and freedom of choice. But they also want to be told where they should go,” he finished.

Diablo 4 will be released in 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC with cross-platform crossplay and progression.