Diablo 4 quarterly update details environment art, over 150 dungeons

Diablo 4 was delayed last fall, but Blizzard Entertainment appears to be hard at work on the next dungeon-crawling, loot-gathering entry in the popular RPG series. “Appears” is a good word here, because we just got a look at several in-progress locations across the land of Sanctuary.

The March quarterly update for Diablo 4 has been published, and it’s jam-packed with gorgeous concept art. The game has “five distinct regions and hundreds of dungeons that you will experience,” according to environments art director Chris Ryder. What’s more, the team is taking “a darker and more grounded interpretation than earlier installments.” Some of the first few screenshots show off a rainy village at night, a tavern lit by a lone fireplace, and a dusty town.

We get a sampling of a few named locations, too. Scosglen Coast contains settlements built to withstand the harsh weather and waves from the sea. The worshipful Orbei Monastery stands tall amongst the Salt Flats, although it’s in a rundown state. Kyovashad is a cold, unwelcoming military settlement that isn’t meant for the faint of heart. These three are shown off in brief videos, like the one below.

A big chunk of the blog post is also dedicated to dungeons — Diablo 4 will have over 150 of them, in fact. As with the named overworld locations, we get a glimpse at three of these too. The Forgotten Places in the World video seems less about one particular location and more a showcase for a particular tile set, but it nonetheless gives us a look at dungeon-delving in the upcoming game. A druid burial site called Wretched Caves and a swampy ruin called Flooded Depths are also showcased. The latter specifically utilizes new “tile-set transition scenes,” which means you can run through a hole in the wall and find yourself in a totally new, different-looking zone that’s been randomly generated like the one you just exited.

Diablo 4’s new release date has not been announced yet, and Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard shouldn’t have any effect on that one way or the other. Nor should the company’s recent sexual harassment lawsuit settlement — the current court fine won’t be of any consequence to a company of that size.