Diablo IV’s Secret Endings May Tease The Game’s Future

Diablo IV has been out since June 5, so folks have had enough time to beat the game and see its final cutscene. However, it seems there are some secret post-credit scenes that only a few players have been able to see. And now, folks lucky enough to witness those brief secret endings (it seems there are a few ways to trigger them, though it’s still unclear) are racking their brains trying to figure what Blizzard could be teasing for the loot-grinding RPG’s DLC.

Read More: Oh No, Diablo IV Will Make You Create A New Character For Every Season

The fourth installment in the long-running head-empty-kill-shit series, Diablo IV tells the story of the Daughter of Hatred, Lilith, a horned succubus hellbent on reclaiming the forsaken world of Sanctuary, the main setting of the Diablo franchise, by weaponizing the cult that worships her. Your job is to loosen the Creator of Sanctuary’s grip on the world and send her back to where she belongs: Hell. It’s a simple premise full of windy narrative branches that lead to some unexpected revelations and unanswered questions, especially once the credits roll. And it’s this moment that left players trying to dissect the meaning of the different hidden ending clips circulating the internet. So with that said, here’s your spoiler warning for Diablo IV.

Kotaku's standard spoiler warning image.

Since Lilith is Diablo IV’s big bad, the Queen Succubi is the game’s final boss. As you and your companion Neyrelle prepare for the final confrontation, you talk to Lilith’s daddy Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, who’s locked within a giant blood orb. The original plan was to lock Lilith away within a soul stone as a means to save Sanctuary, but Neyrelle believes Mephisto is the greater of the two evils and, instead, chooses to imprison him. He doesn’t totally agree with the decision, but accepts whatever fate is chosen. So, Neyrelle captures Mephisto like he’s some demon Pokémon, and leaves before Lilith arrives, prompting the final battle between you and the Mother of Sanctuary.

Who’s that Diablo IV post-credit demon?

After you kill Lilith, the dommy-mommy says Sanctuary is doomed without her, and flashes of what looks like the Job For A Cowboy album cover interject her last monologue before she crumbles to dust. Lorath gives a speech about helping you and Neyrelle, there are a few more cutscenes, then the credits roll. But there’s a possibility you’ll get hit with one of four secret endings, according to WowHead, which fans think could feature either Mephisto or his son, Lucion.

Three of the four post-credit secret endings are just a brief second or two long and show a horned lich-like demon with piercing orange eyes and massive curved horns. This, many believe on Reddit and YouTube, is Mephisto making a comeback. The last post-credit scene, however, is a bit longer, and a bit different.

AnActualSadTaco

The above secret ending is what’s thrown players for a loop. It’s obviously a demon, but it doesn’t look so much like Mephisto as it does his son and the Primus of the Triune, Lucion, who’s only appeared in Diablo books. And since Lilith said Sanctuary was fucked now that she’s dead, some have theorized that the game’s two planned expansions will focus on the Father and the Son. Others, however, think Lilith’s ex-lover Inarius is seeking his vengeance while a few believe the DLCs will introduce a new class.

“I’m convinced this is Inarius coming back after Lilith ripped his wings off and told him he belongs in Hell,” said user sarak6324 in a comment on the YouTube video embedded above. “I think that in a cruel twist of fate that Rathma’s Prophecy is about him in the way he didn’t think. A spear of light destroying Hatred (his hatred for the heavens after he was denied entry).”

“You can tell by the eyes, it’s Mephisto,” said user Kyle-nm1kh. “Pure prime hatred in those eyes. Very unsettling BTW. Also he’s neck deep, implying he’s trapped but not completely, which is the exact appropriate foreshadowing symbolism for the moment in the plot to portray Mephisto, who is trapped but probably not completely.”

“Horns are Lucion’s,” said user andrewspencer7804. “We’re on a mission to completely fuck up the Hatred family.”

The Diablo IV subreddit also has some interesting theories about what all four secret endings may mean for the franchise’s future. User icarusiscariot885 commented on a short secret ending discussion post, saying the fourth clip “might actually be Diablo,” the Lord of Terror and the series’ main antagonist In a different discussion post, user ConfidenceLatter427 said it “could be Belail, Lord of Lies,” who is one of the four Lesser Evils in the game. Still, most folks believe it’s possibly Lucion, although it’s speculated that Mephisto’s son was scrubbed from existence in the first book in the Sin War trilogy, Birthright.

How to get the Diablo IV secret ending

Getting the secret endings is a different story, though. It’s unclear exactly what the requirements are, but according to AnActualSadTaco, they got that fourth scene “after completing [the] campaign [with a] second character.” Some folks on Reddit say finishing the campaign solo again isn’t totally necessary, as helping a friend do it will still trigger one of the four secret endings. Others, like redditor MarleyLo, said they got the scene on their first completion. Either way, it seems that you have to finish the campaign at least once and sit through the entire ending credits to get one of the post-credit scenes.

Kotaku reached out to Blizzard for comment.

Read More: Diablo IV Fans Think It’s Stingy With XP, So Blizzard Is Promising Changes

Diablo IV is full of secrets, including gear you’ll probably never find and nonexistent levels fans think are there anyway. At least there’s one thing we can be sure of that we’ll all come across in Sanctuary: gems, which Blizzard intends to make way less of a burden on your inventory with future updates.

 

Microsoft And Sony Reach Deal For Future Of Call Of Duty On PS5

Art for a Call of Duty operator sits in front of dueling Xbox and PlayStation signs.

Photo: Barone Firenze / Activision / Kotaku (Shutterstock)

Microsoft and Sony have finally reached a deal for keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation once the Activision Blizzard merger goes through. The surprise agreement comes after months of fighting between the two companies and is a sign the acquisition is all but inevitable.

“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tweeted on July 16. “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.”

It’s not immediately clear what the terms of that agreement are, and whether they are similar to proposals Microsoft recently signed with Nintendo and other cloud gaming providers. In the past, Sony has paid Activision for special benefits relating to Call of Duty, including timed-exclusive content and special marketing rights. It was also revealed during the recent court battle over the deal that Activision had leveraged its partnership with Sony to negotiate better commission rates for the franchise on Xbox.

Read More: Sony Won’t Share PS6 Info With Call Of Duty Devs If Owned By Microsoft

Sony had been vigorously contesting Microsoft’s planned acquisition of the publisher in regulatory proceedings across Europe, the UK, and the U.S. After the recent legal defeat of the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block the deal, however, the PlayStation 5 maker seems to have decided it’s time to settle. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan had reportedly said in the past that his only interest was in blocking the deal.

Sony’s current agreement with Activision wasn’t set to expire until 2025, and the new agreement seems likely to carry through for at least the rest of the PS5’s life. Microosft has claimed all along that it’s not in its financial interest to make the series exclusive as the games generate billions in revenue on the competing platform.

Microsoft declined to comment. Sony did not immediately respond.

Sonic Team Says Pixel Art Won’t Be ‘Viable’ Style In The Future

Sonic Superstars, the new 2D Sonic platformer from Sega coming out later this year, looks a lot like a fresh take on the famous blue blur. It ditches pixel art for a cartoony new visual style that looks pretty good. But if you were hoping for a future Sonic game to return to its classic pixel-art roots, that might not be happening anytime soon, going by recent comments from Sonic Team.

Last year saw the release of Sonic Frontiers, the latest entry in the franchise to go full 3D with an open-world-like design. The game was cool, if a bit messy and lonely at times. But Sonic is a flexible franchise. (I mean, they pretended to kill him in a visual novel earlier this year!) So while Frontiers is out there giving fans the chance to play as Sonic in a big, open 3D world, another game out later this year—Sonic Superstars--is set to play a lot more like classic Sonic games.

Takashi Iizuka, the lead producer on Sonic Superstars and the head of Sonic Team, the developer behind the franchise, recently spoke to GamesRadar about the upcoming platformer and why the series hops between 2D and 3D. Iizuka explained that Sonic Team believes the Sonic franchise always needs a modern 3D game and a classic 2D entry, too.

Sega / Sonic Team

“Those are our fundamental pillars that we need to have,” said Iizuka. “We’re expanding into movies and TV, but we still need to have both the 3D and the 2D lineup for our gaming audience.”

According to Iizuka, Sonic Frontiers is all about the “open zone” concept and cementing that as what 3D Sonic games will likely be for the next decade or more, calling it the “evolution” of the 3D Sonic entries and adding that he and the team were “very proud” of the game. On the flip side, the upcoming Sonic Superstars is going to be what the team will build on for future 2D entries moving forward. And part of that evolution includes moving away from pixel art.

“We look at the pixel art—it’s great—but when we think about 10-20 years in the future, we don’t think it’s going to be a viable art style or presentation for our players,” said Iizuka. “And in order to advance and really step things up, we did want to make sure that we’re presenting something that 10-20 years down the road we’re still evolving and creating new content for.”

While some might recoil at the idea of pixel art being talked about this way, I can see Iizuka’s point.

I’ve talked to and played games with younger family members and friends and whenever they see me playing pixel art games, like Shovel Knight or Sonic Mania, they often dismiss them as “old looking” or “ugly.” And considering Sega and Sonic Team want the Sonic franchise to continue to expand, pixel art might not appeal to younger gamers in 2023. But don’t worry, you can still enjoy Sonic Mania while they play Sonic Superstars or Roblox or whatever.

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