Well, it’s been a long time coming, but Diablo 4 day is finally here. The epic RPG from Blizzard is now fully available – following a few days of early access to those of you who picked up the Ultimate Edition of Diablo 4 – and we’re all able to get stuck into one of the best RPG games we’ve played in a long time. Whether you’re planning on speed-running to the Diablo 4 endgame, or take your time with all of Diablo 4’s Acts, you might be interested to know that one developer has confirmed a rather interesting detail about Sanctuary – the world that makes up the Diablo 4 map: it’s not actually a flat plane of existence.
Yeah, that’s right Flat-Sanctuary believers, you know that flat map with edges you’re planning on exploring with the best Diablo 4 barbarian build or the best Sorcerer build? It’s not actually flat at all – and it’s low-key blowing our minds.
Well, okay. The map itself is always going to be actually flat – or, at least, we would be very surprised if things changed. However, Blizzard senior quest designer Harrison Pink – via Twitter – has shared that “Sanctuary is a planet”, something quite a few of you may not know.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever officially stated it or not”, Pink says, “but it’s 100% a spherical celestial body with at least [one] moon, not a flat plane with edges”.
Pink also added that “Sanctuary is still in its own pocket dimension” in Diablo 4, when asked whether World of Warcraft’s Azeroth could be in the same planetary system as the hellish location. This is because, as you may already know, Sanctuary was “created when Inarius and Lilith created [a] world to keep the World Stone hidden from pyring eyes” – and, as a place to evade the Eternal Conflict between Heaven and Hell.
If you’re wondering what this means when it comes to any upcoming Diablo 4 DLC, Pink was quick to mention in a response to another fan that this was “completely unrelated” to that. He said that he “just thought launch day was a fun time to mention it”. Whether that is true, or not, it does raise some interesting questions – and could be the topic of many-a-conversation – when it comes to discussing what Blizzard could and will do with additional content for Diablo 4.
The fact that Sanctuary has a moon could open up an entirely new environment, with new flora and fauna, to the RPG – should Blizzard want to pursue that. However, this also gives the developer the freedom to explore a multitude of new biomes, in expansions, without the need to explain too much to justify it. Our planet, Earth, is a prime example of a planet that can support a number of unique biomes – whether that be luscious jungles, snow-capped mountainous regions, or dune-filled deserts. It wouldn’t be outrageous to think Sanctuary could support any number of these things at once, should Blizzard wish it to.
However, we’ll just have to wait and see what’s coming to Diablo 4 in the future – if anything. The game has just come out, of course. If you want to start taking on some of the Diablo 4 world bosses, you can check out the best Druid build and best Rogue build right here; oh, and we also have a guide to the best Necromancer build here, if you want to take advantage of this class’ unique skills.