Former Diablo Devs Aim to Shake up the ARPG Space with Darkhaven, and You Can See How They're Getting on in Its New Demo

Why It Matters

The project could reshape ARPG expectations by adding dynamic world manipulation, while veteran Diablo talent lends credibility and may draw a sizable fanbase, influencing market competition.

Key Takeaways

• Steam pre‑alpha demo available for free download.
• Dynamic terrain destruction distinguishes Darkhaven from competitors.
• Former Diablo creators lead development, boosting credibility.
• Kickstarter goal $500k aims for Q4 2026 early access.
• Procedural world evolves permanently based on player actions.

Pulse Analysis

The action‑role‑playing game (ARPG) segment has been dominated for decades by Blizzard’s Diablo franchise, setting a high bar for loot‑driven progression and fast‑paced combat. As the market matures, players increasingly seek fresh experiences that go beyond static dungeons and predictable level design. Independent studios have responded with procedural generation and live‑service models, yet few have combined these trends with the deep itemization that defines classic ARPGs. Enter Moon Beast Productions, a team of veterans who worked on Diablo I and II, bringing both nostalgic expertise and a desire to push the genre forward.

Darkhaven distinguishes itself through a fully mutable world where players can literally reshape the terrain—breaking through walls, draining lakes, and rerouting rivers—to create permanent scars that affect future runs. This dynamic environment is paired with a procedurally generated map, ensuring each session feels fresh while preserving the core loop of character progression, skill synergies, and loot hunting. The pre‑alpha demo lets players test the Witch class up to level 8 across three distinct skill trees, showcasing the studio’s commitment to depth and replayability without sacrificing the addictive loop that made Diablo a benchmark.

To fund its ambitious roadmap, Moon Beast launched a Kickstarter campaign targeting $500,000, with a deadline of March 21 and an early‑access launch slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The campaign leverages the developers’ pedigree to rally both longtime Diablo fans and newcomers intrigued by the promise of a living, evolving sandbox. If successful, Darkhaven could set a new standard for player‑driven world alteration in ARPGs, prompting larger publishers to reconsider static level design. Even a modest funding shortfall would provide valuable community feedback, shaping the final product’s direction.

Former Diablo devs aim to shake up the ARPG space with Darkhaven, and you can see how they're getting on in its new demo

Darkhaven Demo Arrives on Steam · An ARPG “Unlike Any Other” · Published by PCGamesN

An ARPG "unlike any other," spearheaded by a handful of former Diablo 1 and 2 developers? That's a prospect that I'm sure will make loot goblins everywhere sit up and take note. Well, that's what the team behind Darkhaven is setting out to achieve. Shaking up the action‑RPG space with a procedurally generated world featuring an unprecedented amount of environmental destruction and evolution for the genre, hopes are understandably quite high. Despite only being revealed at the end of January, a new “pre‑alpha” demo for Darkhaven has just hit Steam, so you can already go and see for yourself how developer Moon Beast Productions is getting on.

It's pleasantly surprising to see such a rapid turnaround between announcement and playable demo. Usually, you get the announcement trailer, the quotes that promise the world, and the tantalising resumes of the developers in one hit of hype, and then things will go dark for a while. However, Moon Beast wants Darkhaven in your hands as fast as possible.

"Closer to a pre‑alpha than a highly polished, bite‑sized teaser, Moon Beast have decided not to water down their ambition with a narrow vertical slice, instead allowing players to experience the full, unfiltered version of what they are building," a press release announcing the new demo reads. Despite being an incredibly early version of the game, "the demo offers several hours of open‑ended ARPG gameplay inside a persistent sandbox world. Players can progress the Witch class to level 8, experimenting across three skill trees focused on mobility, positioning, and resource management."

"Our goal with this demo is to demonstrate two things at the same time," says Erich Schaefer, the co‑founder of Moon Beast and one of the main creative forces behind the original Diablo. "First, we're staying true to the addictive core of classic Diablo‑style gameplay – progression, itemization, and build synergies. Second, we want to deliberately break from the pack in how worlds evolve, how replayability works, and how much agency players have over the land itself."

As I mentioned, the main way Darkhaven is differentiating itself is with its ever‑evolving world. Its dynamic and persistent open world can literally be shaped by players as they break through terrain, drain lakes, and redirect rivers. Moon Beast also said when it revealed the game that "world‑altering events leave permanent scars." I'm yet to try the demo for myself, so I'm unsure just how sophisticated the map manipulation system is in this early build. But the promises being made about the finished product are certainly ambitious.

The new Darkhaven demo is live and playable for free right now on Steam. You can download it here. If it impresses you, and you can see yourself coming along with Moon Beast for the ride, the studio has also launched a Kickstarter campaign today to help it accelerate development and hit its target of an early‑access launch in Q4 2026.

Admittedly, there's a pretty high goal here of $500,000 / £366,577, which Moon Beast is trying to hit before Saturday, March 21. However, if Diablo (and wider ARPG) fans really resonate with the demo and overall concept, there's no reason why a cool half a million couldn't be hit.