In a new video discussing Blizzard's reveal, the Path of Exile co-creator says he is “tentatively hopeful” that Diablo V may be moving back toward some of the ideas that made the original games so compelling to him. And the interesting part is that his optimism is not based on Blizzard simply saying the words “back to our roots.” Wilson is looking at the small things Blizzard deliberately chose to show.
The Inventory Immediately Got His Attention
One of those details is Diablo V's inventory. Blizzard has already confirmed that Diablo V is bringing back different item sizes, meaning a large weapon once again physically occupies more space than something tiny like a ring.
To modern players, that may sound like Diablo rediscovering inconvenience.
To Wilson, it is a signal.
Diablo III and Diablo IV moved toward standardized inventory slots, where almost every object consumes the same amount of space. Diablo and Diablo II treated equipment like actual objects. A giant polearm was inconvenient because giant polearms are inconvenient.
Wilson says choices like that suggest Blizzard may be looking seriously at what made the first two games distinct instead of simply applying their visual style over another modern loot system. He even points toward the flaming Diablo V logo, which resembles the visual identity of Diablo I and II more closely than the cleaner logos of III and IV.
Diablo II Literally Changed Wilson’s Life
There is a reason he notices these things.
Wilson says he spent his teenage years obsessing over Diablo and played Diablo II so extensively that it changed the direction of his life. Six years after Diablo II launched without a sequel in sight, he and several friends began building the project that eventually became Path of Exile.
His disappointment with later Diablo games is therefore less “competitor complains about competitor” and more somebody watching the series that created his career move in a direction he personally stopped enjoying.
Wilson says Diablo III felt too different from Diablo II when it finally arrived. Diablo IV raised different warning signs for him during its 2019 reveal, including its open-world structure and monster level scaling. Interestingly, Blizzard has already confirmed that Diablo V intends to rethink level scaling so players can feel character progression more clearly.
For somebody with Wilson's preferences, several of Blizzard's current decisions therefore appear to be pointing in the correct direction.
He Still Has Plenty of Questions
This is not a Chris Wilson endorsement sticker for the Diablo V box.
He remains cautious. Diablo V's inventory may bring back different item sizes, but Blizzard's early concept contains significantly more inventory space than Diablo II. Its world still needs to explain how procedural generation, caravan progression and endgame systems fit together. And many of the design decisions Blizzard showed at BlizzCon remain prototypes rather than finished mechanics.
That caution fits Diablo V's unusual development strategy. Blizzard revealed the game almost three years ahead of release specifically because, as we covered in our look at Diablo V's early announcement, the team wants more time for outside testing and iteration.
Spring 2029 is a long way away.
There is plenty of time for both hope and terrible decisions.
Wilson Wants Diablo V to Succeed Even Though Path of Exile Competes With It
The most interesting part of Wilson's comments may actually have nothing to do with inventory grids.
He says he “desperately” wants Diablo V to be a good game, arguing that a major Diablo release succeeding helps the entire action RPG genre. A successful Diablo brings mainstream players into ARPGs. Some of those players eventually try other games, including Path of Exile.
Wilson describes it through the old phrase that a rising tide lifts all ships.
That is a healthier interpretation of the Diablo-versus-Path-of-Exile rivalry than internet discussions normally produce. Path of Exile did not become successful because Diablo disappeared. It became successful partly because Diablo created millions of people interested in killing monsters until interesting objects fell out.
Diablo V Is Sending Signals to Old Diablo Players
We have seen those signals repeatedly since BlizzCon. Itemization is looking back toward Diablo II. Runewords and Sets return. Equipment has physical inventory size again. Blizzard is experimenting with stat requirements. The overworld becomes less predictable. Dread Commanders can reshape regions, while dungeons return to stronger procedural generation.
None of that guarantees Diablo V will feel like Diablo II.
It probably should not.
Diablo II already exists, and somehow Blizzard is still updating that too.
But when the man who helped create Path of Exile looks at Diablo V and sees enough of the old DNA to become cautiously hopeful, that says something about the direction Blizzard is signaling.
Chris Wilson is not convinced yet.
For Diablo V, getting him interested again may already be a surprisingly good start.
