It’s easy to forget that Diablo III used to kind of suck

Despite fairly positive reviews, when Blizzard’s Diablo III launched in 2012, there were problems. Between server login issues, pacing hiccups, and the dreaded auction house, a lot of fans were underwhelmed. This is what Blizzard gave us after Diablo II? It had been almost nine years since the last Diablo game, and the genre had matured. Why were we slogging through three difficulties to get to the actual game? What happened to the Stones of Jordan? Why was this damn auction house even here? Jason Schreier of Kotaku has a fascinating look at how Josh Mosqueira was brought on to the development team and how his early work on the console version of Diablo III formed the basis for the way the company would eventually revamp the game into the juggernaut we know now.

“And in some ways, looking back at it… there’s a level of being very naive. We’ve been mucking around with this game for about six months, not knowing all the history behind all the decisions leading up to this moment, just walking in like kids and pushing buttons.”

The article is an excerpt from Jason Schreier’s upcoming book “Blood, Sweat, and Pixels” and it’s a great reminder that what started as a bit of a disappointment to many, is now considered the genre leader.