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Michael McWhertor is a New York-based journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience covering games, industry events, technology, movies, and TV.
Blizzard and Glass Cannon Unplugged reveal an all-new Diablo adventure
Just weeks after the surprise reveal of Diablo 5 at BlizzCon 2026, Blizzard Entertainment has another Diablo adventure in the works: a "dungeon battler" titled Diablo: Unbound. Developed by Glass Cannon Unplugged, the new Diablo board game was revealed Wednesday during Spiel Essen, the largest board game event in the world.
Like Blizzard's Diablo video games, Diablo: Unbound will be a "highly replayable cooperative action game" with hack-and-slash-inspired gameplay. One to four players will battle their way through dungeons, fight evil, and collect increasingly powerful gear, according to an announcement from Glass Cannon Unplugged.
“You get the high-stakes showdowns of a boss battler—and hordes of monsters that never let up," Jakub Wiśniewski, CEO of Glass Cannon Unplugged, said in a news release. "But you don’t crawl through dungeons. You battle your way down. That’s why we call it a dungeon battler."
Diablo: Unbound will feature both deck-building and dice-rolling board game mechanics. It "pulls from the broader history of the franchise," GCU says, and features four familiar playable classes: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorceress, and Paladin. Each comes with its own skill tree, abilities, and progression. Additional classes will be made available through stretch goals and future expansions, the developer says.
The board game adaptation appears faithful to Blizzard's classic click-and-kill action RPG from top to bottom. The board game spans three acts, each made up of three dungeon levels, with powerful bosses at the end of each. Diablo: Unbound also dispenses ample randomized loot, and taking greater risks can lead to greater rewards. In between dungeon-diving, players can enter a Town Phase to upgrade their skills, manage loot, and respec. Each dungeon takes approximately 60-90 minutes to play, with a full act requiring three to four-ish hours.
Beyond the full act, there's an endgame mode called Torment, which allows players to face any of the board game's bosses "regardless of their tier, in its ultimate form, balanced to challenge a party of endgame characters."
Diablo: Unbound is currently in a pre-launch mode on Gamefound. Glass Cannon Unplugged plans to reveal more about the upcoming game over the next few months, with the full campaign launching in Q1 2027.
Glass Cannon Unplugged has a track record of developing tabletop adaptations of video games and other properties. The studio's portfolio includes Frostpunk: The Board Game, Apex Legends: The Board Game, Dying Light: The Board Game, and Don’t Starve: The Board Game.