For decades, fans of Diablo II have wondered: What if the ARPG genre hadn’t moved toward the linear, “menu-driven” endgame of modern titles? Moon Beast Productions is the answer to that question.
Founded by the architects of the genre—Phil Shenk (Lead Artist, Diablo II), Peter Hu (Lead Designer, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction), and Erich Schaefer (Co-Creator of Diablo and Torchlight)—the studio is building a project that aims to redefine the “Action” in ARPG.
The Vision: A Sandbox ARPG
While games like Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2 focus on high-fidelity combat in pre-designed worlds, Moon Beast is building an Open-World Sandbox.
- The “Alternate Trajectory”: The team describes the game as the path ARPGs should have taken if the technology of 2026 existed in 2001. Instead of a series of corridors, the game features a fully seamless, persistent world.
- Dynamic Environments: Unlike the static maps of most ARPGs, the world in this project is “alive.” You can terraform areas, and your actions (like clearing a specific nest of monsters) can have long-term effects on the ecosystem of that region.
- UGC (User-Generated Content): The most radical feature is the built-in toolset. Borrowing from Warcraft III‘s modding legacy, the developers are creating a “client-server” system that allows players to create their own game modes and world events directly inside the engine.
What We Know as of Early 2026
The 2026 Roadmap
After a “First Watch” event in late 2025 where veteran players got 20+ hours of hands-on time, the studio has confirmed a massive push for the first half of 2026:
- January 2026: The official title reveal (previously just known as “Moonbeast Game”).
- February 2026: A Public Demo launch, coinciding with a Kickstarter campaign to fund the “final mile” toward Early Access.
- Steam Next Fest (Feb 23, 2026): The game is confirmed to be a headliner for the festival, offering a vertical slice of the open-world mechanics.
Gameplay Mechanics
- Mature Aesthetic: Phil Shenk has been vocal about avoiding “cartoonish” visuals. The game features a grounded, dark-fantasy look where gear looks cohesive rather than the “clown suits” often found in looters.
- Visual Progression: Upgrading an item doesn’t just change a number; it changes the item’s visual identity—glows, auras, and tiered effects show off your power level to other players in the world.
- The “Witch” Hybrid: Early gameplay footage showcased a “Witch” class that can transition seamlessly between ranged spellcasting and brutal melee combat, highlighting the flexibility of the skill trees.
Moon Beast isn’t trying to compete with the $100M budgets of Blizzard. Instead, they are using “smarter” data-driven systems to create a world that feels more reactive and “moddable” than its corporate rivals. They are building a game for the player who misses the “grit” of Diablo II but wants the freedom of a modern survival-sandbox.
