Johanna Faries Broke the News at the Opening Ceremony
Japanese games outlet Famitsu's report on the announcement is brief. Blizzard held BlizzCon 2026 on September 12 and 13 in Anaheim, and during the event confirmed that a new Diablo animated series is being made together with Netflix. Famitsu describes the project as currently in production, with details to be announced at a later date.
Wider coverage out of Anaheim fills in how it was delivered. According to What's on Netflix, Blizzard president Johanna Faries made the announcement during the show's opening ceremony, and Blizzard's accompanying statement reads: "A new animated series set in the world of Diablo is in development with Netflix. More details will be shared in the future, but this is only the beginning, with even more taking shape across our universes."
That last clause is the tease. Blizzard did not name any other franchise, but "across our universes" is pointed wording from a company that also owns Warcraft, Overwatch, and StarCraft.
What Has and Hasn't Been Announced
Here is the full list of confirmed facts: it is a Diablo animated series, it is being made with Netflix, and it is in development. Nothing else.
No animation studio has been named. No showrunner, director, or writer has been attached. There is no cast, no episode count, no indication of whether it will be 2D or CG, and no release window. Famitsu's wording (制作進行中, roughly "production is underway") sounds slightly further along than Blizzard's own "in development," but neither phrasing comes with a date.
For readers who don't play the games, Diablo is Blizzard's action RPG series set in the world of Sanctuary, where humanity sits caught between the forces of Heaven and Hell. The franchise turns 30 in 2026, which makes BlizzCon's timing the obvious anniversary hook.
The Netflix Diablo Anime That Stalled in 2018
This is not the first time these two companies have tried this. As What's on Netflix recapped, Netflix was reported to be developing anime adaptations of both Diablo and Overwatch around 2018 and 2019, and Nick van Dyk, then co-president of Activision Blizzard Studios, confirmed on LinkedIn that the Diablo project was in pre-production.
It never surfaced. Activision Blizzard sued Netflix after the streamer hired away its CFO, Spencer Neumann, and the resulting dispute is widely credited with shelving both shows. Microsoft's 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard changed the ownership picture, and the relationship with Netflix has apparently thawed enough for the Diablo project to come back.
Whether the new series carries over anything from that earlier attempt is unknown. Blizzard's statement frames it as a new project, and no staff from the 2018 version has been mentioned.
Looking Ahead
There is no date to circle yet. Blizzard's line is that details will be shared "in the future," so the next milestone is presumably a studio or creative-team reveal rather than a trailer.
On distribution, Netflix originals typically stream worldwide at launch, but Netflix has not published any regional or release information for this series, so treat that as an expectation rather than a confirmation.
The animated series also arrives alongside a bigger Diablo roadmap. In a separate BlizzCon report, Famitsu notes that Diablo 5 is scheduled for a spring 2029 release and is set in a world where Sanctuary has fallen and Diablo has won. Whether the Netflix show ties into that timeline or tells its own story is one of the many things Blizzard hasn't said.