Diablo 4 has shifted heavily in the live service direction, but Blizzard Entertainment has made it consistently clear that it is not leaving behind paid expansions. Franchise general manager Rod Fergusson doubled down on this approach in a recent interview by confirming that premium Diablo 4 DLC will come out yearly in addition to numerous seasons.
Diablo 4 is emulating Destiny 2
Fergusson spoke about this to Dexerto when talking about the RPG’s future.
“When you look at the launch of the game and this first season, we see that as building a foundation on which we can build for the future,” he said. “So, as we look at our quarterly seasons, and we look at our annual expansions, those are the things that we’re really focused on for our live service.”
Fergusson had previously confirmed that premium DLC would be coming to Diablo 4, but its cadence was unknown. This is all happening alongside quarterly seasons, too. However, it is unclear when Diablo 4’s first paid expansion will drop.
With four seasons a year and one paid expansion, Diablo 4 is clearly following the model Destiny 2 has adopted over the years. Bungie has more or less followed this rhythm since 2019. Fergusson even called Destiny 2 a “great inspiration to look at” in the above article where he talked about DLC.
And while this schedule matches current trends, it’s not what Diablo has done in the past. Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 both had one expansion each in the form of Lord of Destruction and Reaper of Souls, respectively.
