Diablo co-creator joins Moon Beast Productions

Hu stated that they – himself and Shenk – started Moon Beast to approach action RPGs from a different perspective. He revealed that many of the games in the genre can be traced back to the original Diablo title and that reinventing the genre with Schaeffer is a dream come true for him. He further revealed that in the little time that Schaefer has come onboard, they have already generated incredible ideas.

Despite their grand plans for the action-RPG genre, the Moon Beast team does not intend to change the genre completely. In Shenk’s words, "We want something that is familiar, but feels fresh and innovative. And it should be easier to operate as a service, with the best of both worlds."

Before his appointment at Moon Beast, Schaefer co-founded four different studios – Blizzard North, Runic Games, Double Damage Games, and Flagship Games. His most recent experience was at Runic Games where he operated as a Designer starting in 2008. His first foray as a founder was in 1996 when he co-founded Condor, Inc. with his brother Max Schaefer and friend David Brevik before it was renamed Blizzard North after its acquisition by Blizzard Entertainment.

Schaefer served as a Project Lead, Design Lead, and Art Director on the first two installments of Diablo but he wasn’t involved in the latter games in the franchise. While the action RPG title is his most popular project to date, he has also worked on other popular games, including Hellgate: London, Rebel Galaxy, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, and Torchlight.

Before the announcement of Schaefer’s appointment, Moon Beast Productions hadn’t revealed that it was working on an action RPG project. Now, even though it has revealed its plans, the studio has refused to provide further details.

In other Diablo-related news, Blizzard recently revealed the minimum and recommended requirements for the fourth installment of the franchise ahead of its June 5 release. The game development studio has also confirmed that the early access beta for the title will start on March 17 while the open beta will kick off a week later on March 24.