Diablo Immortal Got Looser — Lead Artist Explains Why the Druid Cracks Jokes

Lead artist Emil Salim explained how the team behind Diablo Immortal loosened the franchise’s usual grim tone while keeping core dark-fantasy elements intact, and he described the creative process behind the game’s characters — especially the Druid. Salim spoke about this at the 2025 Brasil Game Show and highlighted how community feedback, study of past Diablo titles, and a push for personality shaped Immortal’s art and marketing.

1. How Diablo Immortal found its voice
2. Community influence and player base
3. Designing the Druid
4. Updates and links

How Diablo Immortal found its voice

Diablo Immortal launched in June 2022 and, since then, the team has iterated on style and content while keeping the franchise’s dark-fantasy foundation. However, the Immortal art and marketing teams moved toward a somewhat lighter, more playful presentation in some materials. For example, the team used artwork that references old movie posters and added tongue-in-cheek signage in updates such as Flesh Harvest to signal danger in a playful way.

Moreover, Immortal has also hosted crossovers and thematic events. For instance, the game previously introduced a Berserk collab that incorporated elements from Kentaro Miura’s manga into Immortal’s world. These choices illustrate how the team experimented with tone while retaining recognizable Diablo aesthetics.

Below is a representative social post the team shared during promotion and community engagement:

Hungry for adventure? Please note, The Boil of Creation is BYOT (Bring Your Own Tendrils). pic.twitter.com/j4ef6PrrMJ

— Diablo Immortal (@DiabloImmortal) October 4, 2025

Community influence and player base

Emil Salim said the art team worked closely with players and that the Immortal community tended to be more “looser” in expectations, which encouraged creative risks. He said, verbatim, “We work very closely with our players,” Salim tells Polygon. “What they want is what we work on. And for Diablo Immortal, our players have always been a bit more, I would say, looser. They almost challenge us to push the boundaries. That has then allowed us, the art team, to try a lot of new things.”

In addition, Salim noted a notable demographic trait: many Immortal players are new to Diablo or new to Blizzard. As a result, the team tailored introductions to lore and characters with an eye toward accessibility, and they used art and tone to guide new players into the franchise.

Salim’s career background includes work at companies such as Disney, and he said that experience with expanding IPs to new audiences made working on Immortal a “natural progression” for him.

Designing the Druid

The team deliberately studied prior Diablo titles when redesigning the Druid class for Immortal. Salim explained their approach exactly: “When we first started, I worked very closely with the other art directors on Diablo 4, on Diablo 2 and on the original Diablo,” Salim says. “We started to educate ourselves first on who is a Druid in Diablo. We looked at Diablo 2, we looked at Diablo 4, and we looked into all the details. We looked into all of their thinking processes from all of their perspectives. And only after we fully understand where the Druid is currently, that’s where we start to discuss ‘Where do we push the Druid?’ One of the areas that we really push for Diablo Immortal is personality. We wanted our Druid to have a sense of humor. That’s, again, a very Diablo Immortal thing.”

Consequently, Immortal’s Druid trailer balances familiar class traits with unexpected beats. For example, the Druid performs a comedic moment — he tosses a fish to a woman he just saved and warns her about bears — which highlights the team’s aim to add personality while preserving class identity.

Study first, then push

Salim emphasized a two-step process: first, learn the history and current state of a Diablo element; then, identify where to push it. This method guided both mechanical and visual choices for the Druid and other character work.

Updates and links

Diablo Immortal has continued to receive updates for three years after launch, and it recently began the Vessels of the Husk season. Furthermore, the team has responded to early feedback about monetization and kept evolving the game’s content and presentation over time.

In short, the Immortal art team combined study of past Diablo entries, community feedback, and deliberate choices about personality to shape a version of Diablo that keeps dark-fantasy roots but allows for lighter, more playful moments.