"Those waiting for the return of Diablo 4 leaderboards will have to wait a little longer, as the feature has been delayed into 2026. Blizzard announced the delay during its most recent Diablo 4 developer update livestream. The new leaderboard system revolves around a new dungeon called The Tower, where players will be able to test their builds and compete for clear times and rewards."
""This is to make sure we have some stability with the season launch, and then when The Tower shows up, it's online and people are ready to tackle it," associate game director Zaven Haroutunian said regarding the reason for the delay. Leaderboards and The Tower were originally set to debut as part of Season 11 on December 11. Instead, Blizzard said the feature will arrive with patch 2.5.2 sometime in the new year. Even when The Tower and leaderboards do arrive, they will technically be in "beta" form, an approach Blizzard hasn't taken before when it comes to developing new features for Diablo 4."
"Delaying The Tower wasn't just in the name of season-launch stability. Haroutunian said it was also to incorporate learnings and feedback from the recent Season 11 public-test-realm, which featured a version of The Tower Haroutunian said was intentionally "rough." Blizzard wanted to test it and make sure it was going in the right direction for the feature before committing to it, he said. Now, Blizzard is aiming to refine The Tower based on feedback. One problem Blizzard is looking to fix is to make it so progress orbs dropped by slain enemies will spawn closer to players to require less backtracking. Another problem area is the feeling that players need to "fish" for optimal dungeon layouts before committing to a run, something that was also a problem in Diablo 3. Haroutunian said Blizzard is looking to address or remove outliers like certain bosses and or environments that aren't as conducive to a competitive game mode."
Leaderboards for Diablo 4 and the new Tower dungeon have been delayed into 2026 to ensure stability at season launch and readiness for online play. The Tower will serve as a competitive dungeon for testing builds and chasing clear times and rewards. The feature is slated to arrive with patch 2.5.2 in the new year and will initially be released in beta. The delay allows incorporation of public-test feedback to refine mechanics, reduce backtracking by adjusting orb spawns, reduce reliance on "fishing" for layouts, and remove inconsistent bosses or environments to improve competitiveness.
Read at GameSpot
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