Blizzard has officially confirmed that the Diablo 4 campaign can be skipped, but there’s a catch. A new video shared by Blizzard’s Diablo 4 social media team shows players having the option to “skip the campaign” when creating a new character. This will allow Diablo 4 players to jump straight into the highly anticipated endgame action of the ARPG. However, this is not an option available out of the box. Players will need to be given options.
In past Diablo games, the campaign was inseparable from the progression. For example, in the original Diablo and Diablo 2, progression was entirely dependent on the player completing the story and then repeating key encounters in the campaign to earn loot. However, Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls expansion pack changed this system, allowing those who played the game’s seasonal content to jump right into Adventure Mode. This is an open-ended game mode that doesn’t require playing the Diablo 3 story.
Outside of the seasonal game, players must complete the Diablo 3 Story Mode campaign before unlocking Adventure Mode. It’s now confirmed that this was also Blizzard’s choice to skip the Diablo 4 campaign. A screenshot from a recent Diablo 4 video shows the presence of a skip campaign button in character creation. Blizzard director of global community development Adam Fletcher noticed fans were talking about skipping Diablo 4’s campaign, and clarified that players, “have to beat the campaign once for this.”
Unfortunately, exact details about the Skip Event feature aren’t available yet. While Diablo 4 doesn’t make a distinction between story and adventure modes, having the freedom to set the action in the game’s open world without a structured story drive might be a bit of a change from normal. The main campaign missions will likely be absent, but it’s unclear if side missions, or anything else, will be skipped as well.
Another major question is whether this decision will carry over to Diablo 4’s seasonal content. Diablo 3 allowed players to progress directly into each season, but Diablo 4 may require players to complete the campaign first. Blizzard has previously stated that it will add new story-based content each season, even if only to introduce seasonal feature additions, but not related to the event itself.
Blizzard still has a lot to dig into before Diablo 4 launches, but this is an exciting confirmation nonetheless. Players will not be forced to replay Diablo 4 with new characters after completing its story. Progression and endgame aren’t exactly intertwined with Diablo 4’s story. It will be interesting to see how Blizzard handles the freedom this can afford players.
Diablo 4 launches June 6 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.