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Blizzard North's early 2003 build of Diablo III could've led to a very different game.

Following the mass-market casualization of Diablo for mobile phones, I thought it pertinent to take a look back at the days when the series was that grim and bloody ARPG that defined a generation. The kinds of things Diablo fans expect and actually get are often quite different (Diablo Immortal, cough cough) and this back-and-forth goes as far back as Diablo III.

Diablo III is a great game...now. But when it launched in 2012 it alienated a lot of core fans. The bright colors and visuals were a big departure from the dark, grisly and macabre style of Diablos I and II. The mechanics hadn't changed much, but the core multiplayer was dramatically skimped--down from 8 players in DII to just 4 players--and there was no trading. The Real Money Auction House plagued gamers and created one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had while gaming. But all of these things weren't originally in Diablo III; it once resembled its forebears quite closely.

On the Diablo Reddit, I recently came across the only surviving screenshot of a very early Diablo III prototype. The game was actually in dev phases way back in 2001, when Diablo II's Lord of Destruction launched, and the small slice really shows us what could've been.

Blizzard--and the games industry as a whole--has changed a lot since then. Now today's gaming landscape is dominated by live service games that're monetized with microtransactions, lootboxes, and DLC. To Blizzard's credit, Diablo III's current status is excellent and devoid of these annoying tactics...but only after the company raked in untold millions from the Real Money Auction House and almost killed fan sentiment altogether.

Diablo III's current iteration is basically Blizzard making up for its past sins. But this probably won't continue.

The future may be grim for Diablo--and not in a good way. Diablo IV is indeed in development and probably will be for some time to come, and I have no doubt there's tons of devs putting their all into the work, but there will also be caveats that fold into Activision-Blizzard's business model. We should see things like live service cosmetic microtransactions thrown in the mix, or at the very least paid expansions (which are agreeable enough).

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Square Enix announces Shadowbringers, the new major expansion coming to Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy XIV has enjoyed long-running success thanks to its strong content rollouts and the team's incredible dedication to quality, and in 2019 the popular MMORPG is getting even bigger with a new expansion. Shadowbringers will offer a wealth of new content like a new playable race, new jobs, boosted level caps, and new crafting/battling/and gathering updates. We'll also see lots of tweaks across the board to keep gameplay mechanics fresh and unique.

As the name implies, Shadowbringers is a dark expansion. Players will actually become Warriors of Darkness this time around (quite interesting) and take on "threats to the world." Exact details are light and Square Enix won't reveal new info until Spring 2019 during the Paris- and Tokyo-based festivals. These events will be streamed on the FFXIV Twitch channel.

Veteran Gears of War dev Cliff Bleszinski appears to have sworn of game development for good and all.

In a recent Twitter post, Cliff Bleszinski (aka Cliffy B) says he's done with making games. The message comes in response to an angry fan who pressured the dev for refunds on Lawbreakers, the now-defunct online FPS that failed to gain traction.

"I paid my employees, their 401ks, and their health care - even months after the studio folded so they could care for their families. I didn't take a salary myself for two years," he said, explaining how the cash from Lawbreakers was used. "I get you're sad, but god, this kinda shit is another reason I am NEVER making another game."

Capcom's popular Devil May Cry series will be adapted into an animated TV series, likely for Netflix.

With Castlevania on Netflix, Adi Shankar has proven video games can be adapted properly into compelling and mature shows. The vampire-hunting series was done exceptionally well and holds true to the mythos, characters, and overall feel of Konami's legendary franchise. Now Shankar will work his magic on another beloved Japanese IP: Devil May Cry.

IGN reports Shankar has secured the rights for a Devil May Cry animated show, yet Capcom has been mum on the subject (Capcom has, however, is always open to mainstream adaptations of its products and is even making a Monster Hunter movie). There might be some crossovers between Castlevania and Devil May Cry as the two projects are now part of Shankar's "bootleg multiverse."

Shankar's motivations for grabbing the rights are simple. If he has them then "the jabronis at Hollywood can't f*ck things up," the director said.

No release date information was announced and production likely hasn't started yet. There's also no confirmation that the Devil May Cry show will be on Netflix, but based on the studio's track record with Castlevania we're betting it's likely. Shankar confirmed Castlevania's second season did so well that Netflix immediately renewed it for a third season.

Sony has decided it won't be participating at E3 2019, hinting at a big showcase for its next-generation PlayStation system.

Sony and Microsoft are typically the main draws for E3; their announcements fuel the ever-bristling console wars and serve as venues for first-party and third-party games. But as E3 evolved from a industry-only event into one that welcomes everyday gamers, some major publishers have pulled out (EA, for example, does its own thing now). Sony now says it won't be attending E3 2019 so it can "innovate, experiment, and think differently" on how to showcase its products.

"As the industry evolves, Sony Interactive Entertainment continues to look for inventive opportunities to engage the community. PlayStation fans mean the world to us and we always want to innovate, think differently and experiment with new ways to delight gamers," Sony told Kotaku. "As a result, we have decided not to participate in E3 in 2019. We are exploring new and familiar ways to engage our community in 2019 and can't wait to share our plans with you."

To celebrate the release of 'The Crown: Season Two' on home video, we have ten Blu-ray copies of the series to give away thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Home Entertainment!

Season 2 continues to follow the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century.

Beginning with soldiers in Her Majesty's Armed Forces fighting an illegal war in Egypt, and ending with the downfall of her third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan after a devastating scandal, the second season bears witness to the end of the age of deference, and ushers in the revolutionary era of the 1960s.

To go into the running to win a prize, post this article to your social media profiles, correctly answer the below question and send your postal address to ben at TweakTown dot com before the competition closes on November 23.

How many precious stones are contained in the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom?

'The Crown: Season Two' is available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD at Australian retailers now.

Microsoft will release a digital-only Xbox One variant in 2019 ahead of its next-gen Xbox Scarlett console, reports indicate.

Thanks to the success of services like Game Pass, I originally predicted a digital-only, online-driven Xbox console could happen at some point. Shortly after reports indicated a disc-less Xbox was indeed in the works and would serve as a lower-cost entry point to the Xbox gaming and live service ecosystem. Now Thurrot.com's Brad Sams reports the console will launch sometime in 2019.

We originally thought the digital-based Xbox, which won't come with a drive to play disc-based games, was part of the new Xbox Scarlett family. But that's apparently not the case; the cheaper model is coming in 2019 whereas Microsoft's true-next gen system will launch in 2020. The new system is likely a smaller set-top box with similar specs as the original Xbox One model that can download, play, and eventually stream digital games from Xbox LIVE (as well as multimedia services like Netflix). Exact details are unknown but it's fair to say we shouldn't expect Xbox One S or X level hardware.

The latest release from Polish video game developer CD Projekt RED has not me the companies expectations sales wise, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales could be called a bit of a disappointment.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is set in the universe of the famous Geralt of Rivia and is a single player role-playing experience. It challenges players through puzzles and card mechanics, but it appears all these things aren't want the masses of gamers want as the sales for the title have dwindled.

According to CEO of CD Projekt RED, Adam Kiciski, "The game appealed to the community, which drove up our expectations regarding sales. Unfortunately, as yet, these expectations have not been fulfilled. Still, we remain optimistic ... We expect to continue to sell Thronebreaker for many years to come, even though the initial period may not have lived up to our initial expectations." Due to the very slow sales numbers, CD Projekt RED decided to release the game onto Steam when it was originally planned for an exclusive release on GOG. For more information regarding Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, visit the official Steam listing here.

There was rumors surrounding Sunset Overdrive arriving on PC and now it has been officially confirmed. Insomniac Games' crazy shooter will be arriving on PC on November 16th.

The announcement comes from the Sunset Overdrive Twitter account as well as Insomniac Games' official YouTube Channel. From the above trailer, we can get a great look at what the game has to offer players, we can see great customization for clothes and outfits, unique monsters to slay, a crazy amount of very cool looking weapons and much more.

It is still unclear whether Sunset Overdrive will be getting an enhancement patch, but we do know it will be arriving with all of its DLC's. Sunset Overdrive will be priced at $19.99 and will be available on November 16th. In the entirety of this post you will find a larger description on the game, for more information visit the official Sunset Overdrive website here.

There was some recent rumors floating around from dataminers that suggested that SMITE was going to be added to the Nintendo Switch library of games, it appears these rumors are true and we could see a Switch SMITE release on November 16th.

For those that don't know what SMITE is, SMITE is a multiplayer online battle arena that allows the player to experience the likes of being a God in the first person point of view. Just like other MOBA games such as League of Legends and DOTA 2, SMITE has a large vartiey of champions (Gods) and respective skins for them, there is also constant updates headed to the game and the additionally new God added every now and again.

The confirmation comes from Nintendo Everything as they claim that Nintendo will sell SMITE as a bundle "200 Gems, 400 Gems + Smite Founder's Pack." According to Nintendo Everything the SMITE listed is priced at 23.69 pounds which equates to $30 USD. We will be sure to update you once an official announcement has come from either SMITE developer Hi-Rez Studios or Nintendo themselves.