Diablo 5 Inches Closer to Launch as Cinematics Work Begins

Diablo 5 is still a few years away, but it looks like development is trucking along, now that Blizzard has started filming for its cinematics.

Blizzard cinematic director Neil David Carter posted a photo of the motion capture stage on X / Twitter, simply saying "First shoot #Diablo5." If the cinematic team is just starting motion capture, Diablo 5 probably isn't super late in its development. However, if the cinematic team is shooting motion capture for cutscenes, then the story is mostly fleshed out already.

Luckily, in an interview with Windows Central, senior producer Tiffany Watt confirmed that Diablo 5 would be using its own fork of the Diablo 4 engine, so at least the team didn't have to start building the game from scratch. But in a game like Diablo 5, a lot of work has to go into balance, itemization and world design, and the new game is likely going to be a bit more complicated than Diablo 4 thanks to the procedurally generated maps.

First shoot #Diablo5 https://t.co/3SDU51n3ch— Neil David Carter (@NeilDavidCarter) October 14, 2026

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First shoot #Diablo5 https://t.co/3SDU51n3ch

That's why some folks, like former co-founder of Path of Exile developer Grinding Gear Games, are skeptical that Diablo 5 is going to hit its targeted release date. After all, if Diablo 5 does launch in spring 2029, it will come out just shy of six years after Diablo 4. There was an 11-year gap between Diablo 3 and Diablo 4. The gap between Diablo 4 and Diablo 5, if all goes according to plan, will be about half as long. It's little wonder, then, that Blizzard has had to work hard to convince its players that it's not abandoning Diablo 4 early, and that the game will still get content even after Diablo 5 launches.

Only time will be able to tell whether or not Diablo 4 will continue to get updates, or will just get a handful of seasons on repeat like Diablo 3 after Diablo 4 launched. But, really, all we can do is wait and see how everything plays out. For what it's worth, Diablo 5 is shaping up to be a totally different ARPG than its predecessor, and I can't wait to see how the cinematics they're shooting now are going to turn out.

Diablo 5 will tell 'three stories,' including the past, the present desolation of Diablo's takeover, and the future 'terror forming' of Sanctuary. Diablo 5 is set roughly one century after Diablo 4, in a post-apocalyptic timeline where the Lord of Terror himself has already won and rules over a fallen Sanctuary.