Blizzard talks to Game On about Diablo Immortal and the community’s influence on the game

Emil Salim, art lead of Diablo Immortal, commented on the new expansion and how players help shape the game

At the Brasil Game Show 2025, Terra Game On had the opportunity to speak with Emil Salim, art leader of Diablo Immortal, who told us about the news of the new expansion.

He also commented on the process of adding changes and new features to the Blizzard franchise.

Terra Game On: First of all, thank you so much for having us and for giving us this interview. From your point of view, what are the most interesting new features of this new expansion?

Emil Salim: Oh, there are several things. This 4.1 version is one of the biggest updates this year and there are a lot of things I thought were interesting. My first highlight is the main mission, for those who played this year, this is the penultimate release and will be the conclusion of the story itself. People who have played this year know that the plot involves the Sharval people, so Prince Albrecht becomes the center of the story, offering freedom to the Sharval villagers. So far everything seems to be going well on Albrecht’s part, but it will be with this update that players will see his true intention revealed: that he actually wanted to convert everyone into his followers, to create a world where heaven and hell do not exist, where his followers dominate everything.

Another thing, from a game design point of view, was the addition of several updates to the Conflict Cycle, now players can go through dungeons very quickly, another really interesting thing is War Games, where players can customize their PvP experience, by the way players responded very well to this addition. Another thing that players have been asking for for a long time is that those who play as Sombra finally have their own capes. We also launched new cosmetic items for the ghost market: we in the art sector especially had a lot of fun making these items. We made a Valkyrie based on the one from Diablo 2, and the idea is that she’s corrupted, and that’s why she has broken skin. This was the first time we tested this type of look, where the skin texture appears a little more transparent, so you can see through the character.

Game On: Now talking more about your work, from an artistic point of view, how do you maintain visual coherence and at the same time have to add new features that excite players?

Emil: We on the Diablo development team always challenge ourselves to create something new. Every time we create a new area, we look for a new color palette, a different style, to try something we’ve never done before. It is very important to us that each place is unique. Well, we look for inspiration everywhere, even as an artist I always encourage my team to look for references even outside of games, because the more diverse the sources of inspiration, the more unique the artistic concepts that arise from them. So, overall, this was the approach we took to the game’s graphics.

The game has begun: Now, from a player’s perspective, just like other Blizzard games, Diablo Immortal has a large and engaged fan community. How do their opinions and suggestions influence your work?

Emil: The community’s opinion has a direct impact on us. For example, as I said before about capes for playing as Sombra, players have been asking for this for years and now we’ve added it. It’s essential that the community continues to make its voice heard, we always ask to know what they think of our releases, what they want in the game. Another example of this influence is that this time we released the new zone in blocks instead of one big one. We’ve done it this way in recent releases to facilitate player experience and development. Therefore, it is always important that the community continues to maintain this connection with us, to always help us make Diablo better for everyone.

Game On: In this sense, how do you reconcile the community’s requests and opinions with the need for permanent balancing that a game like Diablo requires?

Emil: We always work closely with game designers, so that they help us balance the graphics of enemies and monsters with the situations required by the game. For example, if an enemy has a bite-based attack, we draw them large and with their teeth showing, very obvious, so that their close-range attack is effective but also so that the player can understand how to defend themselves. On the other hand, if it’s an enemy that relies on range, for example an acid-throwing enemy, we adapt the design so that its strengths and weaknesses are also tailored to the game situations.

Now, in terms of balancing the players’ vision with my own, it’s always a delicate balance, to be honest. Sometimes we follow our vision, but sometimes we try to add player feedback with our own twist. It doesn’t always work, but we still make sure that the game is always growing and new things appear, instead of repeating the same things over and over again.

Game On: Do you have a favorite character in this new expansion?

Emil: Alberto. He’s not just the main character of this expansion, he’s a character who’s been around since the first games, since the original Diablo. We met him as a child, when he was corrupted by Diablo, in the first Diablo. So it was a lot of fun for us, many years later, now in Diablo Immortal, to imagine and draw what Albrecht would be like as an adult, and what he would be like after Diablo’s influence on him. There will still be other versions of Albrecht released later (I can’t give details on that), so I hope players will enjoy discovering other versions and facets of Albrecht.

Game On: Finally, would you like to leave a message to the Brazilian fans of Diablo Immortal?

Emil: I can tell we’ll have a lot of fun stuff coming out in the future. As for launching now, October is always a fun month to work on, as Halloween is an event that fits well with the theme of Diablo, including one of the cosmetics we will launch is a recurring theme of this holiday, namely the Corpse Bride, which will be available soon.

I also encourage players to keep an eye out for upcoming new features, as we will have many exciting new features next year, some of which we haven’t tried in games yet. And many thanks to the Brazilian fans for all their support!

Diablo Immortal is available for PC and mobile devices.

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.