Diablo 4 devs are eager to scale from dungeon-crawler to true open-world experience

Diablo 4 developers Blizzard believe that with time and significant steps in every expansion, they can transform the title from a dungeon crawler into an actual open-world game because they’ve already built an expansive sandbox where they can experiment and do more with Diablo.

During a roundtable chat at BlizzCon 2023, the devs revealed they’re eager to scale their efforts and transform Diablo 4 from a dungeon crawler into more of an authentic open-world experience, as reported by Rock Paper Shotgun.

Since Diablo 4 launched on June 6, players have been surprised and confused about why the devs created such an expansive world—Sanctuary—which features five interconnected regions but isn’t actually an open world.

By this, we mean the primary focus of Diablo 4 is its dungeons and the loot you can only get from these dungeons, hence why it’s still considered a dungeon crawler rather than an actual open-world game.

This would be a massive endeavor for the developers because, besides the five regions, most of a player’s time is spent in the dungeons and little is spent elsewhere because there is very little to do top-side. All of the top-rated gear can only be found in dungeons or by defeating specific dungeon bosses.

With the fact Blizzard has already created an extensive wireframe for the change-up, they can experiment and make a more open-world experience for players who enjoy these games. However, it’s not that simple, and the devs haven’t made an official announcement nor have they said when they’ll start making the shift. They’re simply open to experimentation. 

We know from the roundtable they may consider making changes in future expansions, but they need to ensure they have the platform to make it happen. So, an authentic Diablo 4 open-world experience could be years away. By then, they may have already evolved and created an actual open-world Diablo game, so there would be no need to change Diablo 4.

However, having more events, experiences, and bosses outside the dungeons would be a great start.