video game,star wars video gamesDiablo 4: Lord Of Hatred Is Completely Removing Passive Skills

Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred expansion is revamping class skill trees, with its most dramatic change being the removal of passive skills entirely.

As revealed during an official Sanctuary Sitdown on Discord with members of the Diablo 4 development team (via Icy Veins), Blizzard is looking to make it so class skill trees are more about offering customization than raw power spikes. As a result, passive skill nodes are being removed.

Each active skill will be receiving new customizations options to help fill some of those power gaps, but overall Blizzard wants to make it so becoming more powerful is more about finding and crafting better gear, leveling up the Paragon Board, and equipping the right Legendary aspects as opposed to ticking flat damage bonus boxes on the skill tree. In total, there are 80 additional new skill options and 40 reworked ones that will be coming to all Diablo 4 players. Lord of Hatred owners will have 20 additional skill choices to choose from.

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video game,star wars video gamesBlizzard President Looks To The Future And Admits "Not Everything's Going To Hit"

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Blizzard, and the company already has reason to celebrate the recent Overwatch rebrand that's revitalized the hero shooter. Blizzard President Johanna Faries is very optimistic about the company's future, but she's also fully aware that not every swing at the plate will work out in its favor.

"We've set a lot in motion with respect to [the future of Blizzard], making sure we're clear on it, making sure we’re coordinated on it," said Faries during an appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast. "There's sort of a reliability that players can depend on us to launch in big ways, launch in surprising ways. Maybe take some zags! Not everything's going to hit. That's gaming. But in many ways, let's understand where we are going--not only as a company, but by franchise, by game."

Faries may be referring to some Blizzard games that were in development but never saw the light of day. In 2019, Blizzard reportedly canceled a StarCraft shooter after two years in development in order to focus on Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2.

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video game,star wars video gamesHighguard Dev Mourns The Game - "The Future Seemed Bright" Before TGA Reveal

In the wake of Highguard developer laying off staff and announcing that only a "core" group of developers will continue work on the game, one former developer has reflected on the entire situation surrounding the game, from its much-discussed reveal at The Game Awards to where it stands today.

Josh Sobel was a lead tech artist at Wildlight until he was laid off on February 11, and the developer began their message by discussing the time right before Highguard was revealed to the world at The Game Awards on December 11. This was an exciting time in Sobel's life. They were amped for the world to see what Wildlight had been working on in secret for the previous 2.5 years.

"The future seemed bright. Everyone I knew who had any connection to the team or project had the same sentiments: 'This is lightning in a bottle.' 'I trust this team wholeheartedly.' 'If there's one project nobody in the industry is worried will fail, it's yours.' 'This has mainstream hit written all over it.' 'There's no way this will flop.' 'I could play this game all day,'" Sobel said.

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