Diablo lead wants ARPGs to be called “Diablo-like” games as Path of Exile 2 nears release

As one of the biggest ARPG games in existence, the format of Diablo has led to many spiritual successors, including the soon-approaching Path of Exile 2. As its latest free-to-play competitor nears release, Diablo franchise lead Rod Fergusson has put out the call for games that play like the Blizzard franchise to be dubbed “Diablo-like”.

Rod Fergusson wants ARPGs to be called Diablo-likes

In a recent tweet, Fergusson explained to fans that he believes the genre of “ARPG” is splitting off in many different ways. However, there are clear examples of games in the genre that are attempting to capture the same gameplay loop as Blizzard’s Diablo.

With Path of Exile 2 approaching release as the biggest competitor to Blizzard’s game series, Fergusson’s comments were not taken lightly by fans of either game. As many players become disillusioned with Diablo 4, although its user-retention is significant with new seasons and updates, the ARPG fanbase took issue with the Blizzard executive’s thoughts.

“Feels like the genre of ‘ARPG’ is starting to mean a lot of different things. Much like ‘Souls-like’ and ‘Rogue-like’, I wonder if we could normalize “Diablo-like” for ARPGs that follow the Diablo formula…”

Fans revolt

As soon as Fergusson’s tweet went live, fans of both sides took issue with the statement. On Twitter, gamers mocked the Blizzard developer for “trying to put a brand on a genre” whereas others trolled the executive saying, “Can you refund DLC? I need to buy stash for POE2.”

On the game’s official subreddit, players also took issue. One popular comment explained that Fergusson is technically “correct about this statement” but found the tweet in bad faith just before the release of a major competitor.

Why do they have to do this man
byu/ramatopia indiablo4

“When your competition is making more of a “Diablo-like” game than the actual creators themselves… that’s when you gotta swallow your pride and think what can we do better,” one fan explained.

Despite the backlash, Diablo 4 is a great game, although it does have issues. On the other hand, Path of Exile 2 also looks like a brilliant game that is obviously a spritual successor to Blizzard’s series. However, without a patent on the decades-old formula, there’s really no reason to call PoE 2 a Diablo-like at all.

For more coverage of Blizzard’s ARPG, read about how Blizzard is locking new seasonal content behind expansion passes for future updates. If you’re looking for something more whimsical, read about the arrival of exploding frogs for the game’s new seasonal spells!