Diablo’s creator on Torchlight Infinite, the dungeon crawler genre & the Activision Blizzard deal
Diablo is finally getting its dues in the wider video game world. It's about damn time.
The once-PC-exclusive top-down looter has been a riot for those who have been following it since the late ‘90s, and now as it's fourth mainline breaches the thin veneer between the gamer's game and the mainstream, it looks like it's never made more sense to dive in. But it had to start somewhere. Somewhere darker.
The original two titles, obscured by shadow, were led by David Brevik, programming and design extraordinaire, a creator in the development space who has gone on to create a myriad of different titles since his departure from the franchise after the launch of Diablo II. And it looks like brighter pastures are much, much brighter for him.
David Brevik on Torchlight & Diablo
Click to enlargeSpeaking with GGRecon, Brevik has revealed the reason he's decided to join the world of Action RPG Torchlight Infinite, and just how it compares to his time working on Diablo.
"I do think the art style of Torchlight is very different from Diablo," he says. "I think that allows a lot of creativity in what sort of builds and effects skills can have. Rather than focusing on dark and dreary, here is an opportunity to do bright and vibrant gameplay. I do think it creates a more approachable style, which works very well as the market size increases."
- Read our Diablo 4 review
Torchlight has been bringing colour to the ARPG since 2009, but Brevik's involvement only recently began - and he jumped on board as a result of XD being something of a project between friends.
"Torchlight has been around since 2009 and was built by a bunch of my close friends; Travis, Max, Erich, Peter, Tyler, all people I've worked with in the past on many projects. I've worked with Max and Erich since 1991. I was very familiar with what they were doing and it was exciting to me to get involved with the project because I hadn't worked on the franchise yet."
David Brevik touches on Diablo IV and Activision Blizzard
Click to enlargeEven for a developer veteran in an industry that has allowed him to create plenty to be proud of, it's still clearly pretty cool that the series is trundling on.
"I am really happy that there is more Diablo. Creating a franchise that has lasted for so long is truly amazing. I'm looking forward to giving it a try," he told us shortly before Diablo 4's launch.
Though the series might be one that's tough to walk away from, its future is still up in the air, with the ongoing legal ramifications of Activision Blizzard's purchase by Microsoft.
Brevik has high hopes for the acquisition, but he's not expecting it right away.
"The acquisition will go through, but I'm sure it will take a while," he predicts.
The future of Brevik's development career is clearly much brighter (in a literal sense) than Diablo - but only time might tell if the game can stand up to the Blizzard giant. At the very least, it's already cheerier.
