Major game studios pour resources into their biggest games, and Fergusson said the Diablo IV team, composed of hundreds of employees, was roughly double that behind the game’s predecessor. Diablo III featured a virtual auction house where players could buy and sell gear with real money, but Blizzard shut down the store after concluding that it “ultimately undermines Diablo’s core gameplay: Kill monsters to get cool loot.” There is no guarantee that longtime Diablo fans will appreciate the changes.

But as the studio, now part of Activision Blizzard, prepares to release Diablo IV for computers and Xbox and PlayStation consoles Tuesday, it is modifying its casinolike tactics to build a forever game for modern times. The endless dopamine-inducing hunt was a winning formula that persuaded Diablo players over the past 26 years to invest hundreds, sometimes thousands, of hours into building the perfect character. Sometimes they were randomly rewarded with rare and exceedingly potent loot, much like pulling a slot machine and hitting the jackpot. As players fought through dungeons, slain monsters dropped loot, such as weapons and jewelry, that would empower their characters. Part of Diablo’s deviousness was that it took forever to get what you wanted.

With hits such as World of Warcraft and Diablo, Blizzard Entertainment is considered a progenitor of the “forever game,” addictive experiences that players cannot put down because they seemingly never run out of quests to complete or gear to collect.

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