Diablo Veterans Forge New ARPG, Redefining the Genre

Former Diablo and Diablo II developers are creating a new, low-budget action RPG with the ambitious goal of revolutionizing the genre. Given the success of the original Diablo games, this new ARPG, developed by veterans of those titles, has significant potential.

Moon Beast Productions, an independent studio founded by Phil Shenk, Peter Hu, and Erich Schaefer, secured $4.5 million in funding to develop this ARPG, aiming to "break free from established design patterns." The team, comprised of Diablo I and II alumni, intends to reinvent the hack-and-slash experience. Their vision is a more open and dynamic ARPG, a concept they've pursued for over two decades, aiming to recapture the essence of the early Diablo games.

While details remain scarce, the involvement of such experienced developers suggests the game could be a top contender in the action RPG market. However, breaking into a crowded market filled with high-quality competitors will be a challenge. The recent success of Diablo IV's "Vessel of Hatred" expansion, for instance, demonstrates the existing strong fanbase and potential resistance to change.

The competition is fierce, with established giants like Path of Exile 2 also vying for players' attention. Path of Exile 2's recent Steam launch was incredibly successful, reaching a peak concurrent player count of over 538,000—placing it among the platform's top 15 most played games. This highlights the considerable hurdle facing Moon Beast Productions' ambitious project.