Blizzard president Johanna Faries stated that the upcoming releases of Diablo 5 and StarCraft are part of a company-wide plan to ship big releases on time. The statement from the head of Blizzard came just days after the reveals of StarCraft and Diablo 5 at BlizzCon 2026 in Anaheim.
During the BlizzCon 2026 opening ceremony, StarCraft developer Dan Hay revealed the franchise’s next entry would arrive sometime in 2030. The StarCraft reveal trailer focused on the Terran Dominion, as the dictatorship’s treatment of its soldiers as expendable units was a point of emphasis. Rather than being a real-time strategy title, the 2030 StarCraft game will be an open-world shooter. StarCraft‘s unveiling was followed up by a surprising tease for Diablo 5, which is scheduled to arrive in spring 2029.
Blizzard President Says StarCraft and Diablo 5 Release Window Reveals Were Part of the Company’s Plan
Between StarCraft and the surprising reveal of Diablo 5, Blizzard has two projects that are still years away from a public release. Despite this fact, Faries stated that these announcements were a way to express confidence in Diablo 5 and StarCraft. In a Bloomberg interview, Faries said that Blizzard is a studio that is focused on shipping big releases on time. Faries added that Blizzard has “all hands on deck to set those projects up for success.” Given that Blizzard has not traditionally announced release windows for its IPs so far in advance, the announcement that Diablo 5 and StarCraft would come out in 2029 and 2030, respectively, was shocking for some fans.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
During BlizzCon 2026, the Diablo 5 development team gave fans a glimpse of what players can expect in the upcoming entry. Set in a time when Sanctuary fell to Diablo and his demonic legions. Diablo 5 will not have any safe towns or refuges for players to recuperate. Diablo 5 also showed three of the game’s classes that players can pick from. The Demon Hunter and the Monk will return from Diablo 3, while a new class called the Plague Knight will arrive in Diablo 5. Although details about the Plague Knight remained elusive, the Demon Hunter and the Monk each had appearances inspired by their Diablo 3 counterparts. Ergo, Demon Hunters should still be able to use dual crossbows in Diablo 5, while Monks may punch and kick their way through demonic hordes.
However, fans of the Diablo franchise need not wait until 2029 to experience new content. Diablo 4 will introduce the Amazon as the game’s ninth playable class in early 2027. As a returning class from Diablo 2, the Amazon will wield her signature javelin to defend Skovos from all threats, and she will be gender-locked. The Amazon will be available via a separate class pack for players to purchase on the Battle.net Shop and other storefronts, which should have a lower price than a full expansion.
Faries’ statement on Blizzard’s plans came months after the Irvine-based studio’s parent company, Microsoft, announced thousands of layoffs across its gaming sector in July 2026. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said that the July layoffs were part of a company-wide restructuring process, with 3,200 total jobs being lost in the process. Faries acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding Blizzard after the layoffs, but stated that she was focused on preserving the company’s health and culture.