Blizzard reveals the next 6 months of Diablo 4 updates before its next expansion

For the first time since Diablo 4 was released, Blizzard is giving us a look at what’s going on with it months in advance. Not only has it detailed the permanent additions to the game coming this year, it also has revealed the season themes leading up to the launch of its second expansion in 2026.

Later this month, Diablo 4 Belial’s Return — the title of season 8 — will significantly increase the game’s difficulty with harder monsters and new bosses to fight. Players were zooming through the game a little too fast, so Blizzard has tried to make the experience of leveling up slower and more meaningful. You’ll get new seasonal powers to help you out, but the difficulty changes will stick around after season 8 ends in July.

Also coming with season 8 is a major rework to Diablo 4’s battle pass. Diablo General Manager Rod Fergusson recently hinted at this in an interview with Game File where he called battle passes an “antiquated system now.” He praised Call of Duty’s open-ended battle pass system where you choose what order you want the rewards, suggesting we might see a similar thing in Diablo 4.

The season starting in July is called Sins of the Horadrim, which Diablo lore heads will know is a pretty big deal as far as season themes go. Diablo’s story has always revolved around the Horadrim, powerful mages that go all the way back to the original game when Deckard Cain asks the player to stay a while and listen. According to the roadmap graphic provided by Blizzard, it will come alongside permanent new Nightmare Dungeon activities, keyboard and mouse support for consoles, and more. And just like other seasons, it will have unique powers and a seasonal mechanic known as “dungeon escalation.” We’ll probably have to wait until closer to the season start date to understand what that is though.

In September, season 9, Infernal Chaos, will launch with a similar setup of seasonal powers, quests, and rewards. It will also include a major update to Diablo 4’s roguelike Infernal Hordes dungeons.

The next section on the roadmap is for 2026. Apart from listing the release of the second expansion — which was originally slated to be out this year — is the long-awaited introduction of leaderboards. Players have been asking for a way to measure their power against others from the beginning and it looks like it’s finally coming next year. Community-run leaderboards already track how fast players from around the world can complete the game’s hardest dungeons, but an official one will hopefully be viewable in-game and might have rewards associated with it.

Diablo 4’s next season, Belial’s Return, will start on April 29.