Diablo IV is a 2023 online-only action role-playing dungeon crawling game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment.

Players create a character from one of six playable classes—Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Spiritborn—and use their skills to complete quests through combat.

Diablo IV received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the game's narrative and atmosphere.

The core formula for the series' gameplay revolves around gradually obtaining stronger equipment by defeating increasingly difficult enemies.

[7] Creative director Sebastian Stepien explained that the goal was to create a more "grounded" story than Diablo III.

[27] Select areas within each region have player interactions restricted until sufficient milestones in the story are reached, and such progress will be synced to that of the party leader.

[21] When questioned about Diablo IV's atmosphere, ex-game director Luis Barriga stated: "We want users to feel like they're in a medieval city.

[34] After the events of previous games, the forces of demons and angels have been depleted, allowing an opening for her to establish power in Sanctuary.

[35][36] Thousands of years before the game's events, Lilith and the angel Inarius (Gabe Kunda) created the realm of Sanctuary to provide refuge for those who wished to escape the eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells.

This demon-angel relationship led to the birth of the Nephalem, a race that the protagonist falls under; neither Angel nor Demon, but a distinct combination of both.

[37][38][39] The player character, known as "the Wanderer", is drugged by villagers corrupted by Lilith and fed petals of her blood, creating a connection to her.

Aided by a young woman named Neyrelle (Judy Alice Lee), the Wanderer enters the sanctum of Rathma, the first Nephalem and founder of the Necromancers.

The Wanderer then journeys to Scosglen to meet another Horadrim named Donan (James Goode), who had defeated a demon called Astaroth (David Lodge) with the aid of two Druids years before.

Elias uses a witch named Taissa (Cherise Boothe) as a vessel to summon Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, who is defeated by the Wanderer.

From the Tree, Lorath learns of a gateway to Hell beneath the city of Caldeum, opened using Rathma's key.

Donan is mortally wounded, and Lorath remains behind, leaving the Wanderer and Neyrelle to pursue Lilith to Mephisto's Cathedral of Hatred.

[46] John Mueller, Diablo IV's art director, has stated that both the old masters and more modern artists, such as Frank Frazetta and Gerald Brom, serve as inspiration for the game.

[49][50][51] Following the departure of interim co-lead Jen Oneal, Blizzard announced that Diablo IV would not be released in 2022, citing high employee turnover.

[55] Users of the open beta have reported issues with playing on a Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti graphics card with has resulted in the game running poorly with frequent overheating and crashing.

[62] On April 20, Blizzard Entertainment announced the second open access beta weekend for Diablo IV, known as the "Server Slam", this time from May 12–14.

[63] Blizzard Entertainment announced on June 1, 2023 the "Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem)" music video by Halsey and Suga from BTS.

He commended the gameplay, improvements made over Diablo III, and the uniqueness and customization options of the character classes, but criticized the repetition in the game's opening act, and some technical issues.

[82] While liking the endgame, Ars Technica felt the skill trees presented fewer options for upgrades than in Diablo III.

However, he criticized the boss fights in some of the game's more common dungeons for lacking in complexity, calling them less interesting than those encountered in the main story.

[92] VG247 praised the game's soundtrack as "exceptional; equal parts haunting and daunting, just like its traumatised world".

[95] The PlayStation 5 version of Diablo IV was the second bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 24,375 physical units being sold.