The delay is to "serve the game, not the plan," according to Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson

Diablo 4 Season 8 Delayed, But Will Feature Return Of An Old "Friend"

The delay is to "serve the game, not the plan," according to Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson

"In the spirit of serving the game, not the plan, Season 8 will take a couple of weeks longer to bake than we initially anticipated," Fergusson said. "The team is hard at work on some great updates coming in the next season, so stay tuned. Looking forward to seeing an old 'friend.'"

Diablo 4 is currently in the middle of Season 7, Season of Witchcraft, which introduced a number of Diablo 3-inspired Witch Doctor powers for players to experiment with. Fans noticed the in-game date for the end of Season 7 (and thus the start of Season 8) recently changed from April 15 to April 29, a two-week delay. It's currently unclear if the delay Fergusson is referring to is that two week delay already represented in the game or if Season 8 will be delayed even further into the future.

Fans are also currently speculating what Fergusson meant by seeing an old "friend," as he seems to point towards a familiar Diablo character making a return in Season 8. The use of "friend" in quotation marks seems to imply the character is not necessarily one of the Diablo franchise's heroes, but could indicate the return of a villain of some sort. Fan-favorite villain Zoltun Kulle, who first appears in Diablo 3, did have a strong off-screen presence as part of Diablo 4 Season 3, so it's possible he could be returning in an even bigger way in Season 8. But that's all just speculation for now.

Fergusson recently reiterated Blizzard's commitment to treating Diablo 4 as a live-service game--one that it doesn't want to quickly abandon for a sequel. He said Diablo 4 will be here for "years" to come and wants people to know "we're respecting their time and we're not just here and gone."

Despite those live-service plans, Fergusson confirmed just a few weeks ago that it would already be retreating on its promise of yearly Diablo 4 expansions. The game's first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, released in October 2024, but a second Diablo 4 expansion won't arrive until 2026. When it does, it will be the first time a game in the Diablo franchise has received two expansions.

Though the delay of the season stings, an upcoming Diablo 4 in-game event set to start March 4 may make the wait for a new season a little less painful. The event, March of the Goblins, will introduce rare treasure goblin variants to hunt down, including one ultra-rare goblin that rewards a coveted Mythic Unique item.

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