Key Takeaways
- Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred introduced the Dark Citadel, a PvE co-op experience.
- Vessel of Hatred director is happy with the Dark Citadel response, praises variety of endgame content.
- Blizzard is sticking to group-based content despite some solo player frustration.
Vessel of Hatred game director Brent Gibson remains committed to the idea of adding more group-only content to Diablo 4 and offers advice to solo players. Since it launched over a year ago, Diablo 4 has continued to build momentum with each season, culminating with the positive reception to its first expansion, Vessel of Hatred.
Alongside a new campaign and other content, Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred added the Dark Citadel as an endgame activity. However, in a first for the franchise, the Dark Citadel is a PvE co-op only experience, essentially locking solo players out of it completely and leaving many frustrated about not being able to experience a core piece of the expansion. Based on recent comments by Blizzard, the Dark CItadel likely won’t be the first and last experience of its kind going forward.
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In a recent interview with Polygon, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred game director Brent Gibson admitted to being happy with how Diablo 4‘s Dark Citadel has been received by players. Acknowledging it isn’t for everyone, for players that have experienced it, the feedback has seemingly been positive. In addition, Gibson essentially doubled down on the idea of group-only based content, indicating that he was “sticking to his guns” on it. Gibson continued, “So I expect us to continue to watch the Citadel and see what kind of additional feedback that we’re going to get on it. But yeah, I’m sticking to my guns on it.”
Diablo 4 Not Backing Down From Group Content
For solo-based players hoping for a change, Blizzard doesn’t appear to be backing down from group-only activities. In fact, both Gibson and Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson are in agreement that they’re happy with how much content the Diablo 4 endgame offers players, with it continuing to evolve with diverse experiences. Essentially, Diablo 4 players now have many different activities they can choose as alternative paths within the same endgame loop, including Kurast Undercity, the Pit, Infernal Horde, or Dark Citadel to name a few.
It’s not an easy mode for everybody to go into, but for those players who have been playing, it’s a lot of fun. So I expect us to continue to watch the Citadel and see what kind of additional feedback that we’re going to get on it. But yeah, I’m sticking to my guns on it.
For now, all eyes have begun to turn to the upcoming Season 7, which is currently being tested on the PTR server before launching. While a firm release date isn’t yet set in stone, Blizzard hasn’t been shy about revealing new content, even confirming a few upcoming features in recent Campfire Chats. Specifically, Diablo 4 Season 7 is making some quality of life changes, like no longer forcing players to repeat Class Quests as they’re now tied to accounts rather than individual characters. The reward will instead be granted for hitting that specific level requirement rather than running the same quest again.
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