As IGN pointed out, Diablo III director Jay Wilson announced he would leave Blizzard last month, which likely prompted the listing. Wilson, a 10-year Blizzard veteran, left the company to pursue a career outside of the game’s industry. Blizzard currently has listings for seven openings related to the Diablo project, almost all of which are for senior positions.
The project could be a new expansion for Diablo III or an entirely new game. Either way, the implication suggests Blizzard may be determined not let the series lie dormant again. The publisher released Diablo III in 2012, more than a decade after Diablo II expansion Lords of Destruction. The Diablo team released Reaper of Souls, an expansion for Diablo III, in 2014. The language of the listing implies that the project, whatever it may be, may still be in the planning phase.
At the risk of sounding conspiratorial, there is some circumstantial “evidence” that suggests that the project may be a new Diablo game of some kind. First, both Diablo and Diablo II received a single expansion. If the pattern holds, the team may have closed the door on Diablo III. Also, while the game has aged better than most thanks to a steady stream of new features and post-release updates, Diablo III is four years old. If Blizzard were to put its resources toward a new project at this point, a new game seems like the logical choice.
On the off-chance Blizzard was to announce a new Diablo expansion or game this year, it would probably do so at its BlizzCon fan convention in November.
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