Former Diablo and Diablo II developers are creating a new, low-budget action RPG with ambitious goals. The creators believe their game has the potential to redefine the genre. Given the success of the original Diablo games, this new ARPG, developed by veterans of those titles, has a strong chance of being exceptional.
Phil Shenk, Peter Hu, and Erich Schaefer founded Moon Beast Productions, an independent studio. They secured $4.5 million in funding to develop a new ARPG that aims to "break free from established genre conventions." This team, comprised of Diablo I and II alumni, intends to revolutionize the hack-and-slash experience. Their vision is to create a more open and dynamic ARPG, a goal they've pursued for over two decades, and they aim to recapture the essence of the original Diablo games.
Details about the game remain scarce, but with such a talented team at the helm, it holds significant promise. However, breaking into a market already saturated with high-quality ARPGs presents a formidable challenge. The recent success of Diablo IV's "Vessel of Hatred" expansion, for instance, highlights the strong existing fanbase and the potential difficulty in attracting players away from established titles.
The competition is fierce, with popular games like Path of Exile 2 also vying for attention. Path of Exile 2's recent launch was a resounding success on Steam, boasting a peak player count exceeding 538,000, placing it among the platform's top 15 most played games.