Diablo III Male Wizard, Expansion Revealed

By Kevin Parrish
published

Blizzard revealed the male wizard as Activision whispers of sequels.

The official Diablo III website is now offering a glimpse into the male version of the Wizard class. Although no real new information was provided, the Wizard section was updated with an in-game, animated rendition of the male character as well as concept art and a few screenshots.

Thankfully Blizzard has taken a new route with the male Wizard, trashing the cliché characteristics normally associated with the class: long shapeless robes, floppy hats, a gray beard. This Wizard looks like he means business, donning sinister-looking armor and a helmet that could very well receive television signals from the future.

But while Blizzard continues to work on the third Diablo installment, there's indication that Activision Blizzard plans to take the franchise further than the current game in development. According to a recent SEC filing by Activision, "Blizzard is currently developing new games, including a new expansion pack to the World of Warcraft franchise, Cataclysm, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, which will be released with the new and improved Battle.net, and sequels to the Diablo franchise."

Is Blizzard already planning for a Diablo IV? More than likely Activision Blizzard is referring to expansion packs for the current PC game rather than full-blown sequels. The company (along with Sierra Entertainment) released only one expansion pack for Diablo II called Lord of Destruction, published June 29, 2001.

Kevin Parrish
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • cryogenic
    There haven't been any Blizzard games without expansions in a very very long time. I wouldn't expect anything different for Diablo 3.

    Great games deserve expansions, as a fan I demand them, I don't want the fun to stop prematurely.
    Reply
  • davendork
    The game isn't even launched and they are talking about xpacs and DLC? This isn't an MMO. What happened to buying a full game at the start? Is anyone else pissed about this? I got 10 hours out of Bioshock 2 that's a decent number of $/hr to play that game. I stopped playing Dragon Age : Origin when I had to buy 4 out of 5 story lines.
    Reply
  • ryanjm
    ^^I get what you're saying, but Dragon Age probably had the most playing hours of almost any non-multiplayer game I've played in, well, ages.

    I somewhat agree with your DLC analysis. I liked it when developers made expansion packs when a game was successful. Now they plan on adding content before they're even done with the original game. Tough to say if that's charging extra for what was normally included, or if it is truly an extra above and beyond what would normally come with the game.
    Reply
  • pythy
    Why can't they focus more on the main game first then worry about the expansion later? It's like thinking of building a spaceship when we haven't worked out how to make planes fly yet.
    Reply
  • ultraultralisk
    I'm really excited for these reported sequels. It of course means more money to be spent, but that also means more content, and I'm sure everyone wants more content with one of the most popular game series of today.

    What I'm even more excited about is the fact that I found a site giving out free Diablo 3 beta keys in anticipating for the Diablo 3 beta key. I recently got my key ahead of time since I know people would be kicking down the walls in order to get their keys, and it's first come first serve, so I was first served. :D

    If anyone wants to throw their hat in the ring and try to get a beta key for themselves, here's the site I got it from: http://diablo3betakeys.blogspot.com

    Cheers to Blizzard for coming through with these games, at least they didn't get complacent with WoW's success.
    Reply
  • LORD_ORION
    Hehe... they had to goth the male Wizard up to appease the pissed off Necromancer fans.... Like me! :D
    Reply
  • Ridik876
    davendorkI stopped playing Dragon Age : Origin when I had to buy 4 out of 5 story lines.
    Uhh I didn't buy any DLC and it took me almost 60 hours to get to Landsmeet. Maybe you don't know how to enjoy a game? Or maybe you're too good.
    Reply
  • hok
    As with anything with Blizzard... I'll care when it actually comes..
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    LORD_ORIONHehe... they had to goth the male Wizard up to appease the pissed off Necromancer fans.... Like me!Yay!
    I miss my necromancer. Asside from the druid, it was the funnest class.

    I'm actually hoping there is a difference between the male and female characters. Such as the male has a really frickin big fireball, while the female can turn into a phoenix.
    Also, I hope there is no respeccing, or at least that respeccing is a difficult and pricey procedure (added replay value, such as one summoner druid and one bear form druid).

    I'm hoping for a lot from this game Blizzard, don't let me down!
    I can still remember the first time I played Diablo 1. It was midnight, I was in a cheap hotel, and it was one my mothers laptop. I can't remember why it had Diablo 1 on it (a demo). It was pure awesome.
    I bought D2 3-4 times and D2:LoD 2 times because I kept losing the keys.
    Reply
  • FlayerSlayer
    Given only five classes in Diablo III, was there any doubt that there will be at least one expansion pack for the game to get back up to 7+ classes to match Diablo II?

    I just hope they don't do something like StarCraft II here and give us a three-part-game for $150.
    Reply