Blizzard reportedly wants to reduce the waiting time between major Diablo releases, with development resources now beginning to flow toward Diablo 5. Windows Central executive editor Jez Corden shared the claim in a September 8 preview of BlizzCon 2026, saying he has heard the company wants shorter gaps between its “tentpole” Diablo launches. Blizzard has not officially announced Diablo 5 or confirmed that the next mainline game is in production.
Corden stopped short of suggesting a reveal is imminent. He said BlizzCon 2026 is probably too early for Blizzard to unveil Diablo 5 and instead expects the convention to focus on nearer-term Diablo content. His expectations include a substantial Diablo IV season announcement and potentially more support for older entries in the franchise, although those predictions are separate from his sourced claim about Blizzard wanting faster mainline releases.
The more significant part of the report concerns where Blizzard is directing resources. Corden said he is not currently expecting another Diablo IV expansion because resources are instead “flowing towards Diablo 5,” while stressing that he could be wrong about what Blizzard ultimately announces at the convention. That wording suggests work on the next core Diablo project is advancing internally, but it does not establish its development stage, release window, platforms or final title.
There is already some supporting context for another major Diablo project being underway. In August, Corden separately reported that Blizzard’s next core Diablo project was moving ahead as the studio continued expanding several of its major franchises. The latest report adds a strategic detail by suggesting Blizzard does not want another decade-long gap between numbered entries.
Diablo III launched in 2012, while Diablo IV followed in June 2023, leaving roughly 11 years between the two mainline releases. Blizzard spent much of that period supporting Diablo III while also developing projects including Diablo Immortal and eventually Diablo IV. A policy of shortening that cycle could therefore represent a meaningful change in how frequently Blizzard intends to deliver major new Diablo games.
Diablo IV remains an active part of that strategy rather than a finished product. Its second expansion, Lord of Hatred, launched on April 28, 2026 and expanded the game into Skovos while introducing new classes, progression changes and additional endgame systems. Blizzard is continuing to update Diablo IV through seasonal content, so resources shifting toward a successor would not necessarily mean support for the existing game is ending.
The report arrives only days before BlizzCon returns to Anaheim on September 12 and 13. Blizzard has not advertised a Diablo 5 reveal, and Corden’s own expectation is that such an announcement would be premature. The convention is nevertheless shaping up to provide a broader look at Blizzard’s development pipeline, which already includes reports of a single-player StarCraft shooter and a separate strategy project involving an external RTS studio.
That makes the distinction between reporting and prediction particularly important. Corden presents Blizzard’s desire for shorter Diablo release gaps as something he has heard, while his assessment that Diablo 5 will not be revealed at BlizzCon is explicitly framed as his own expectation. Likewise, the suggestion that a new Diablo IV expansion is unlikely at the event is not an official Blizzard announcement.
Blizzard has offered no release target for whatever follows Diablo IV, and there is currently no indication that the next title would arrive in the immediate future. If the reported strategy holds, however, the company appears interested in avoiding another wait comparable to the 11-year stretch between Diablo III and Diablo IV. For now, the clearest claim is that resources are moving toward Diablo 5 while Blizzard looks to shorten the cadence between its biggest Diablo releases.
