Blizzard announces new Diablo 4 game director Joe Shely

Joe Shely is the new game director of Diablo 4, Blizzard Entertainment revealed Thursday. Shely replaces the old one Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, who left Blizzard in August following a lawsuit against the company, alleging a toxic work environment that subjected female employees to gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

Shely was a member of Diablo 4 development team since 2017, Blizzard said in its official developer biography. His responsibilities include “guiding efforts to deliver the deep, compelling systems and visceral combat for which Diablo is known, and has been the general custodian of the combat experience,” Blizzard said, and he led the team. responsible for the first playable demo of Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2019.

“I am honored to pursue the vision of Diablo IV as the new Game Director, and I am honored to represent the team that put their hearts into this game, ”Shely said in a blog post on Thursday. “Like many of you, our team has reflected on recent events. Much has happened since our last blog and the hard work to put into practice the values ​​to which we aspire must continue. Along with this important work, the development of Diablo IV also continues.

Photo: Blizzard Entertainment

Shely has been with Blizzard since 2005 and was a designer on World of warcraft, lead designer on Diablo 3, and contributed to the development of StarCraft 2: Wings of Freedom.

Latest Blizzard development update on Diablo 4 doesn’t provide a release date status – Shely is simply saying “We’ve got a long way to go” – and instead focuses on the game changing direction and sound design details. You can play a deep dive into in-game audio from Diablo 4 sound supervisor Kris Giampa on the game’s website and watch two behind-the-scenes sound recording session videos on YouTube.

Latest Blizzard update on Diablo 4 comes amid the ongoing unrest at publisher Activision Blizzard, which faces numerous allegations that it has maintained a toxic work environment that is particularly hostile to women. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Activision Blizzard in July, alleging that the women in the company are paid less and are subjected to sexual harassment, without the perpetrators being significantly punished. You can read more about the allegations against Activision Blizzard in the Polygon Explainer.