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In the early ’90s, game designer David Brevik took the beloved but financially struggling computer role-playing game (Crpg) genre and stripped it for parts. No elaborate character backstories, no morality system, and no dice roll-based decision-making. In Brevik’s words, he wanted to make an RPG that let you “get in and start smashing things.”
It was a sacrilegious idea to those who saw traditional RPGs as the backbone of the computer gaming scene. Appropriately, Brevik called his idea “Diablo.”
Released in 1997, Diablo was a true game-changer. It boiled the complex Crpg down to its purest form. Pick a class, unleash devastating attacks with the click of a mouse, collect random pieces of tiered loot, and don’t stop until you see the sun. A role-playing experience that used to take hours of setup...
In the early ’90s, game designer David Brevik took the beloved but financially struggling computer role-playing game (Crpg) genre and stripped it for parts. No elaborate character backstories, no morality system, and no dice roll-based decision-making. In Brevik’s words, he wanted to make an RPG that let you “get in and start smashing things.”
It was a sacrilegious idea to those who saw traditional RPGs as the backbone of the computer gaming scene. Appropriately, Brevik called his idea “Diablo.”
Released in 1997, Diablo was a true game-changer. It boiled the complex Crpg down to its purest form. Pick a class, unleash devastating attacks with the click of a mouse, collect random pieces of tiered loot, and don’t stop until you see the sun. A role-playing experience that used to take hours of setup...
- 5/30/2023
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
Chloé Zhao has gone from intimate dramas in the American West to massive Marvel blockbusters, and now she’s entered the world of gaming. Kind of. The Oscar winner has teamed up with video game publisher Blizzard to direct a live-action trailer for their upcoming video game “Diablo IV,” set to release in two weeks.
The trailer, which Zhao co-directed with Kiku Ohe, is set in the video game’s world of Sanctuary, the realm of humans constantly caught in the middle of the battles between heaven and hell. The trailer features actors portraying the game’s five playable classes — Barbarian, Sorcerer, Druid, Rogue, and Necromancer — fighting various monsters and ending with a shot of the game’s primary antagonist, the demon Lilith.
“Working with Blizzard, we had the wonderful opportunity to bring the dark, thrilling and imaginative world of ‘Diablo IV’ to life,” Zhao said in a statement. “’Diablo’ fans are very passionate,...
The trailer, which Zhao co-directed with Kiku Ohe, is set in the video game’s world of Sanctuary, the realm of humans constantly caught in the middle of the battles between heaven and hell. The trailer features actors portraying the game’s five playable classes — Barbarian, Sorcerer, Druid, Rogue, and Necromancer — fighting various monsters and ending with a shot of the game’s primary antagonist, the demon Lilith.
“Working with Blizzard, we had the wonderful opportunity to bring the dark, thrilling and imaginative world of ‘Diablo IV’ to life,” Zhao said in a statement. “’Diablo’ fans are very passionate,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
If you were a fan of Thing Trunk’s 2018 dungeon crawler Book of Demons (check out our review here), they’re back! Teaming up with Skystone Games, they’ve announced Hellcard, a cooperative roguelike deck builder that’s aiming for a 2023 release on PC via Steam.
Set in the same universe as Book of Demons, Hellcard sees you and up to three players descend into papercraft-styled dungeons to take on the evil hordes and defeat the Archdemon. Players can also go solo and descend into the dungeons on their own, recruiting computer-controlled companions along the way.
What separates Hellcard from other card games is that in the battles, monster placement actually matters and can be used to your advantage (if you’re up to the strategic challenge). Your team of heroes has its own strengths and weaknesses, each with an ever-growing deck of abilities and equipment to use on the battlefield.
Set in the same universe as Book of Demons, Hellcard sees you and up to three players descend into papercraft-styled dungeons to take on the evil hordes and defeat the Archdemon. Players can also go solo and descend into the dungeons on their own, recruiting computer-controlled companions along the way.
What separates Hellcard from other card games is that in the battles, monster placement actually matters and can be used to your advantage (if you’re up to the strategic challenge). Your team of heroes has its own strengths and weaknesses, each with an ever-growing deck of abilities and equipment to use on the battlefield.
- 11/24/2022
- by Mike Wilson
- bloody-disgusting.com
John Saavedra Feb 14, 2019
Blizzard will have a pretty dry year in terms of game releases in 2019, with no major titles planned.
Blizzard won't release any major titles in 2019, Activision confirmed during an earnings call (via IGN) in February, the same one that also cost nearly 800 employees their jobs. Despite the fact that the move was apparently made in order to beef up the development teams at the company, Blizzard won't have much to show for it this year.
"Turning to Blizzard, we expect materially lower financial performance this year," Activision said. "2018 benefited from the release of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, whereas we are not planning a major frontline release for 2019."
As Kotaku explained in the aftermath of the massive layoffs, Activision and Blizzard have apparently clashed over the latter company's output over the last few years. Updates and expansions to its current lineup of titles notwithstanding, Blizzard hasn't...
Blizzard will have a pretty dry year in terms of game releases in 2019, with no major titles planned.
Blizzard won't release any major titles in 2019, Activision confirmed during an earnings call (via IGN) in February, the same one that also cost nearly 800 employees their jobs. Despite the fact that the move was apparently made in order to beef up the development teams at the company, Blizzard won't have much to show for it this year.
"Turning to Blizzard, we expect materially lower financial performance this year," Activision said. "2018 benefited from the release of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, whereas we are not planning a major frontline release for 2019."
As Kotaku explained in the aftermath of the massive layoffs, Activision and Blizzard have apparently clashed over the latter company's output over the last few years. Updates and expansions to its current lineup of titles notwithstanding, Blizzard hasn't...
- 2/14/2019
- Den of Geek
Matthew Byrd Nov 15, 2018
The creator of Diablo has suggested that Blizzard's greed is slowly destroying the studio.
David Brevik, the creator of Diablo and the upcoming indie title It Lurks Below, recently went on a bit of a rant regarding the state of Blizzard in which he accused the company of prioritizing profits over its employees.
"The people above Blizzard, who are profit happy, [are saying] 'Oh my God, Fortnite is making a fucking shit ton,'" Brevik said on a stream that featured Twitch streamer thejunglequeen playing the Diablo-like Path of Exile. "'Overwatch isn't Fortnite...Why have you wronged us?...We're going to get rid of the profit sharing program. We don't like this. We don't like the fact that low-level employees make decent money at Blizzard. We're going to get rid of this program because we need more profits to increase our stock price and improve our shareholders...
The creator of Diablo has suggested that Blizzard's greed is slowly destroying the studio.
David Brevik, the creator of Diablo and the upcoming indie title It Lurks Below, recently went on a bit of a rant regarding the state of Blizzard in which he accused the company of prioritizing profits over its employees.
"The people above Blizzard, who are profit happy, [are saying] 'Oh my God, Fortnite is making a fucking shit ton,'" Brevik said on a stream that featured Twitch streamer thejunglequeen playing the Diablo-like Path of Exile. "'Overwatch isn't Fortnite...Why have you wronged us?...We're going to get rid of the profit sharing program. We don't like this. We don't like the fact that low-level employees make decent money at Blizzard. We're going to get rid of this program because we need more profits to increase our stock price and improve our shareholders...
- 11/15/2018
- Den of Geek
Matthew Byrd Feb 13, 2019
Blizzard looks to hire more developers for a series of future Diablo games.
During the earnings call that followed the massive layoffs at Activision Blizzard, company COO Coddy Johnson revealed that Blizzard is looking to expand their Diablo development team despite the recent layoffs.
"Diablo's development headcount will grow substantially as the teams work on several projects underway for the franchise, as well as the global launch for Diablo Immortal," said Johnson. While we already know about Diablo Immortal this also isn't the first time that Blizzard has mentioned working on several Diablo projects at the moment. An old video from the company revealed that they were working on more than one thing related to Diablo, but that was released before the reveal of Diablo Immortal. This update would suggest that they are now working on several Diablo projects beyond that. Interestingly, the company still hasn't...
Blizzard looks to hire more developers for a series of future Diablo games.
During the earnings call that followed the massive layoffs at Activision Blizzard, company COO Coddy Johnson revealed that Blizzard is looking to expand their Diablo development team despite the recent layoffs.
"Diablo's development headcount will grow substantially as the teams work on several projects underway for the franchise, as well as the global launch for Diablo Immortal," said Johnson. While we already know about Diablo Immortal this also isn't the first time that Blizzard has mentioned working on several Diablo projects at the moment. An old video from the company revealed that they were working on more than one thing related to Diablo, but that was released before the reveal of Diablo Immortal. This update would suggest that they are now working on several Diablo projects beyond that. Interestingly, the company still hasn't...
- 6/6/2018
- Den of Geek
Matthew Byrd Feb 26, 2018
An unreleased Warcraft point-and-click spin-off was killed by the creator of Diablo, it's emerged...
Diablo creator David Brevik admitted to IGN that he is at least partially responsible for Blizzard's decision to cancel the graphic adventure game based on the Warcraft series that Blizzard had intended to release.
See related Game Of Thrones season 7 recap Game Of Thrones season 7 finale: go behind the scenes
However, he cautions fans to not think too harshly of him over his decision to speak against the seemingly promising game.
"Guys, this really isn't kind of a modern game. It doesn't feel like a big evolution in Blizzard," said Brevik regarding his message to the studio heads over the development of Warcraft Adventures: Lord Of The Clans. "It doesn't feel like this is really something significant. It feels like a me-too product that doesn't really have anything that's revolutionary or anything that's different,...
An unreleased Warcraft point-and-click spin-off was killed by the creator of Diablo, it's emerged...
Diablo creator David Brevik admitted to IGN that he is at least partially responsible for Blizzard's decision to cancel the graphic adventure game based on the Warcraft series that Blizzard had intended to release.
See related Game Of Thrones season 7 recap Game Of Thrones season 7 finale: go behind the scenes
However, he cautions fans to not think too harshly of him over his decision to speak against the seemingly promising game.
"Guys, this really isn't kind of a modern game. It doesn't feel like a big evolution in Blizzard," said Brevik regarding his message to the studio heads over the development of Warcraft Adventures: Lord Of The Clans. "It doesn't feel like this is really something significant. It feels like a me-too product that doesn't really have anything that's revolutionary or anything that's different,...
- 2/23/2018
- Den of Geek
Matthew Byrd Nov 19, 2019
The creator of Diablo explains why he killed the Warcraft Adventures game.
Diablo creator David Brevik admitted to IGN in 2018 that he is at least partially responsible for Blizzard's decision to cancel the graphic adventure game based on the Warcraft series that Blizzard had intended to release. However, he cautions fans to not think too harshly of him over his decision to speak against the seemingly promising game.
"Guys, this really isn't kind of a modern game. It doesn't feel like a big evolution in Blizzard," said Brevik regarding his message to the studio heads over the development of Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. "It doesn't feel like this is really something significant. It feels like a me-too product that doesn't really have anything that's revolutionary or anything that's different, and it's kind of a basic point-and-click adventure game. And I don't think we should do this product.
The creator of Diablo explains why he killed the Warcraft Adventures game.
Diablo creator David Brevik admitted to IGN in 2018 that he is at least partially responsible for Blizzard's decision to cancel the graphic adventure game based on the Warcraft series that Blizzard had intended to release. However, he cautions fans to not think too harshly of him over his decision to speak against the seemingly promising game.
"Guys, this really isn't kind of a modern game. It doesn't feel like a big evolution in Blizzard," said Brevik regarding his message to the studio heads over the development of Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. "It doesn't feel like this is really something significant. It feels like a me-too product that doesn't really have anything that's revolutionary or anything that's different, and it's kind of a basic point-and-click adventure game. And I don't think we should do this product.
- 2/23/2018
- Den of Geek
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