Is there a new Diablo 3 expansion being announced at Blizzcon this weekend?
Every year there’s lots of speculation leading up Blizzcon about just what might be announced, and this year is no exception. Thanks to some leaked concept art, the rumor this year is that Blizzard will show off a new expansion for Diablo 3.
The rumbles began when some concept art popped in the Blizzard Gear store and was posted to the Diablo subreddit. While the poster originally declined to post the image itself, it was later added. Blizzard has pulled the image down (it was originally found here) but as is always the case, it’s still out there and circulating. Here it is:
Most people think that the image shows off the much-requested Necromancer class, which didn’t make the jump from Diablo 2. That view is certainly buttressed by the fact that the image shows both male and female versions of the character. Additionally, the original url of the image also includes “bzc16_necromancer,” and other Blizzcon 2016 images use the “bzc16” nomenclature. Finally, this year marks the 20th anniversary of Diablo, so what better time to announce a new expansion?
Furthermore, the art is signed by John Mueller, who’s listed as an art director at Blizzard on his LinkedIn account, and was been rumored to have taken over as Diablo‘s art director earlier this year.
All that said, there’s certainly at least one more possibility. The Necromancer Xul was added to Heroes of the Storm in the not-too-distant past, so the image could have some relation to that game instead. It could also be a tease for the rumored remaster of Diablo 2, but that seems a bit unlikely.
Whatever it turns out to be, it’s definitely got Diablo fans intrigued. We’ll find out for sure this Friday when Blizzcon 2016 kicks off.
Published: Nov 1, 2016 02:40 pm