Diablo 4 DLC director is "sticking to my guns" on the dungeon you can't enter unless you have friends

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Vessel of Hatred's Dark Citadel is unlikely to let solo players in

Diablo 4 screenshot
(Image credit: Blizzard)

For the first time in series history, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred introduced a dungeon that locked out the friendless among us and the expansion's director now says it's unlikely to let them in. 

Diablo 4's first major expansion bought with it a dungeon called the Dark Citadel, which is more akin to a Destiny or MMO-style raid that has specific rules you'll need to learn - either through trial and error or a guide - to complete. You'll also need at least one friend to join in co-op to even get into the area in the first place or you can use the game's party finder feature to squad up with strangers.

In an interview with Polygon about the multiplayer-only dungeon, Vessel of Hatred game director Brent Gibson says he's "absolutely sticking to my guns," meaning solo hack-and-slashers probably won't be allowed in anytime soon.

Singleplayers can already get the best loot without dipping their toes into the multiplayer waters, Gibson argues, so the new dungeon, which only dishes out cosmetic rewards, isn't really breaking the game for the most dedicated solo adventurers. "We've designed it in a way where, to be the most efficient in the game, it's not required to have to go through that multiplayer content," he says. "I love the fact that we have this huge, rich game that has a bunch of different activities that give you alternate paths in the same loop."

Diablo has undeniably become more live service-y as time goes on, but there are still plenty of people who enjoy tapping away by themselves until their thumbs go numb (to unwind, naturally). So, why make multiplayer-only content in the first place? Gibson says that there's an entire "community in the gaming industry that doesn't know playing games any other way than with their friends or online with other people," so stuff like the Dark Citadel is simply catering to that "growing" playerbase.

Before Path of Exile 2’s massive launch, Diablo’s boss got mobbed for saying that action-RPGs should be referred to as ‘Diablo-likes’ in the same vein as roguelikes and soulslikes. 

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.