Around the initial release of Diablo 4 nearly two years ago, Blizzard said that it had already been working on multiple expansions, and that we can expect one to be released each year. Blizzard kept that promise; we got Vessel of Hatred last year, but if you’ve been keeping up with the news, you’ve likely noticed that not a word has been said about this year’s expansion.
That’s because there won’t be one, and the next expansion will instead be released in 2026. In order to fill that gap in content, however, Blizzard has a plan, and the developer has now revealed it in full.
The plan comes to us in the form of a roadmap, which covers the entirety of the year all the way until the release of the next expansion in 2026. Blizzard didn’t reveal any details about that – not even which part of the year we can expect it at, but the seasonal narrative is supposed to lead up to it.
The roadmap already shows much of the content we’ve been playing since the beginning of this year, such as Season of Witchcraft, and drops a few hints about upcoming seasonal content, as well as some permanent additions that exist outside the Seasonal Realm.
The April-July period covers Diablo 4’s next season, which begins later this month. Though the season has yet to be properly revealed, Blizzard gave players the chance to test out many of the major mechanics it’s bringing to the game in a recent PTR.
This period will see the first IP collaboration with Diablo 4. This is also when the game will celebrate its second anniversary, and there’s presumably going to be some sort of in-game event to coincide with the anniversary.
The July-September period is what Blizzard is calling Sins of the Horadrim, and it will see us earning new Horadric powers as part of a new quest (likely only during that season), and a new reputation board. Nightmare Dungeons will see the introduction of activities that raise the dungeon’s difficultly as you go. As with every season, you’ll also be able to earn a pet through the battle pass.
September-December is the final section on the roadmap, dubbed Infernal Chaos. You can expect to wield new powers – this time Chaos Powers, alongside a new quest and reputation board. As the name might suggest, the focus of this one will be Infernal Hordes, and the activity will be updated with new modifiers, and more options between waves. The second IP collaboration will arrive during that period, too.
Outside of the new content coming with each new season, you can also expect game-wide quality of life updates and new features. Keyboard and mouse support is finally being added to consoles. Blizzard also teased “core system updates” to both the battle pass and Seasonal Journey to make them more rewarding.
Alongside the new expansion coming next year, 2026 will also see the introduction of a new ranking system, leaderboards and some other unannounced features teased on the roadmap. Our next event on the calendar will be Blizzard’s official reveal of the game’s next season, which we expect to happen in a matter of days.
