Ex-Blizzard Boss On Top Issues For Diablo IV That Are Crucial For The Franchise's Future

Blizzard has released the 2025 Roadmap for Diablo IV, giving the information on all new features to be released in the upcoming year, including the highly-anticipated Leaderboards though its 2026 launch window has disappointed many. 

This roadmap has brought lots of discussions in the community. One participant is Mike Ybarra, the former president of Blizzard, who left his position last January following the layoff of 1,900 workers at Activision and Xbox. He took to Twitter to share his personal opinions on the top issues that need to be resolved.

Three major issues were pointed out. Firstly, there is a weird cycle where Blizzard ships Seasons just to "check a box", yet it resulted in another two months to fix issues and then repeating. Secondly, the team needs to take a break and focus on addressing the end-game issues; and last but not least, the expansion schedule is too long and should be yearly. "Story" investment, which is a one-time element in an ARPG, should be reduced and more resources should be allocated to "new classes, new mob types, new end-game activities that last more than a few days." 

"If the cycle continues to just ship w/o fixing the fundamental issues, then I'm not sure where Diablo is going," he said, pessimistic about the situation's future, as the same thing could happen repeatedly if Blizzard doesn't stop and reflect on the situation and factors. 

Diablo IV is the latest installment in the renowned Diablo series. It is Blizzard's fastest-selling game of all time, with the highest pre-launch unit sales ever. 

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