Blizzard Using the Same Strategy for Diablo 4 That Todd Howard and Bethesda Employ to Keep Skyrim Alive

Diablo 4 has made a strong comeback thanks to its latest expansion, Vessel of Hatred. Initially, the game was a massive hit but over the past year, the game has lost its popularity but this update was enough to convince fans to try out the game once again. Under Microsoft, Blizzard Entertainment has also adopted one strategy that makes sure that the Diablo franchise always remains relevant.

By not shutting down their previous Diablo games, Blizzard has allowed Diablo fans to continue playing their favorite Diablo games. Bethesda boss Todd Howard has the same vision for his Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series, and its success proves that this is an effective strategy.

In a recent interview with VGC, Diablo series head, Rod Fergusson, explained that Blizzard Entertainment doesn’t shut down any of its games, allowing gamers to continue playing even if the game is over a decade old,

I mean, one of the things you’ll notice about Blizzard is that we tend not to turn any games off, it’s very rare – and so just people playing Blizzard games is awesome, so it’s not a problem that people are playing whatever version. That’s one of the things that’s been really exciting about Diablo 2: Resurrected, is that there’s a very large fan base for that game, which is a remaster of a 21-year-old game – So just having people in our sort of ecosystem, playing and loving Blizzard games, is a huge positive.

Todd Howard, head of Bethesda Game Studios, follows the same strategy while developing games in the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series. Under this strategy, developers develop strong, lasting games. This way, fans will not have to buy new games every year and can continue making progress even if a new game is out.

Further in the interview, Fergusson explained that Blizzard wants people to play whatever they want. In an industry where studios release new games each year with an insane price tag, Blizzard chooses to value player experience over revenue,

There’s opportunities in terms of the Shop and the Battle Pass and those sorts of things, but we really want people to play what they want to play – and whether they’re playing Diablo 4 today, or tomorrow, or whenever, the goal for us is to make the content and the features that are so desirable that people want to come and play Diablo 4, and we’re not trying to actively be like, ‘How do we move them off?’ – and that’s why we continue to support things like Diablo 3 and Diablo 2, and so for us, it’s really a goal of ‘let’s just make stuff that’s so appealing that people want to come play.’

Instead of forcing fans to get the latest game in the series, Blizzard focuses on making it appealing enough so that fans can decide if they want to get the latest game. The latest update for Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred, has successfully revived the game’s hype and will definitely convince many Diablo fans to try Diablo 4.

Do you think Blizzard’s strategy is feasible? Or is it just a short-term idea that Blizzard will scrap once they get into financial trouble? Share your opinions in the comments!