Game Rant recently spoke with Max Schaefer, CEO of Echtra Games and a long-time Action RPG developer, who worked on both Diablo, Diablo 2, and the Lord of Destruction expansion. He also co-founded Runic Games, the studio that worked on the first two Torchlight games, and then founded Echtra Games in 2016 to reprise his work on the series with Torchlight 3. During the interview, Game Rant asked Schaefer a few questions concerning the future and the direction of the new era of the ARPGs, defined by Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2, while also talking about the nostalgia and the excitement surrouunding Diablo 2: Resurrected coming this year.

Schaefer discussed how much of an impact Diablo 3 had on Torchlight 3, and how the former was and still is a great game and project - though he said if he had worked on it, the direction of the game would have been different. He is also shocked, that gamers are still playing Diablo 2 after all these years, and now expects its remastered edition will keep them playing the genre-defining title even longer. Diablo 2: Resurrected is indeed one of the most anticipated games of the year, and that goes to show how much fans of the ARPG genre are looking for a game to keep them coming back, just like Diablo 2 did and still does. Diablo 4 is likely to try the same approach.

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Diablo 3 was highly anticipated before it came out in 2012, but the enthusiasm died down when fans started playing, reached the endgame, and noticed that there wasn't much depth. This was disappointing, especially for those who had high expectations because of how deep and complex Diablo 2 was based on replayability incorporating builds to try and content to delve into. As such, Diablo 4 does bear the onus of having to be better than its predecessor for it to be successful, especially considering Diablo 2: Resurrected is releasing soon, and being a faithful remaster.

"From everything we can see, it’s very faithful to the original version, and it’s just crazy to think that we’re still playing Diablo 2 this many years later. I think it’s awesome."

Schaefer said he thinks every team should make a game the way they want to make it, and thus he doesn't see anything wrong with the release of Diablo 3. Still, with Diablo 2: Resurrected and Diablo 4 he thinks it's refreshing that the franchise will go back to its roots in terms of aesthetics, which bodes well for what the content of the game will feel like. Video games are an experience for players to try first hand, and as such, Schaefer feels they should offer something unique, something enticing; which may mean going back to what made previous entries in a series so beloved and building on that.

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Schaefer also talked about how his team is friends with the developers of Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2, Grinding Gear Games. Path of Exile has had a lot of success, and it was first developed as a sort of spiritual successor to Diablo 2. The game and its company have evolved a great deal since the early days of Path of Exile, and this grim ARPG is very likely to have influenced the development of Diablo 4 in many ways. As Schaefer said, the industry can advance precisely because new games stand on the shoulders of giants.

"We have a lot of the team that worked on the original Diablo games, and we’re good friends with the guys at Grinding Gear. The ARPG world is one big family, and we’re fans of both franchises. We don’t see it as competition as much as building the genre."

Diablo 4 is in development.

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