Diablo 4 Has a New Director

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Joe Shely, who has worked on World of Warcraft and DIablo 3, has taken over as director of Diablo 4. In today’s Diablo 4 quarterly update, Shely said he is honored to continue the vision of the next Diablo as its director.

The previous director, Luis Barriga, was let go from Activision Blizzard in August amid allegations of harassment and abuse within Blizzard. Barriga had been with Blizzard since 2006, and was let go alongside level designer Jesse McCree and WoW designer Jonatan LeCraft. In today’s post, Shely briefly addressed the ongoing allegations.

“Like many of you, our team has been reflecting upon recent events,” Shely wrote. “A lot has happened since our last blog and the hard work of practicing the values we aspire to must continue. In parallel with that important work, development of Diablo IV continues too.”

Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Timeline: The Story So Far

Activision Blizzard settled an equal opportunity commission lawsuit for $18 million. Blizzard’s Chief Legal Officer also departed the company last month.

We don’t yet have a release date for Diablo 4, but last year, then-director Barriga said, “a game of this scope takes time. This is a very, very early first step. We’re not coming out soon… not even Blizzard soon.”

Diablo fans just recently got Diablo 2: Resurrected, a remake of the classic Diablo sequel. In our review, we called the game “good,” saying, “Diablo 2: Resurrected updates the graphics of a great, classic action RPG for a new generation. It masterfully preserves the mood of a singular game, and at the same time it preserves the gameplay as it has been for over a decade – mostly for better, occasionally for worse.”

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

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