Diablo 3: The Darkening of Tristram 2025 – Release date & everything we know

The Diablo event that pays tribute to the original game is returning to Diablo 3, here’s everything we know about the next Darkening of Tristram.

The Darkening of Tristram is a Diablo event that lets players go back to the beginning and play Diablo 3 in the spirit of Diablo 1. The event is always a nostalgic treat for long-time fans of the series and seeing it return in 2025 – after the release of Diablo 4 – is somewhat of a surprise. However, the event also happened in 2024.

While Diablo is busy invading Immortal during the Shattered Sanctuary event, and while Diablo 4 players get ready to engage in some witchcraft, Diablo 3 players once again get to visit the Cathedral that started it all as darkness once again descends over Tristram.

Darkening of Tristram release date

The next Darkening of Tristram event will go live on January 3, 2025 – a year to the day since the last event.

To access it, players will receive a quest notification that will offer clues, eventually leading to a portal to Tristram’s past. The event will be available to all players in Adventure Mode.

What is the Darkening of Tristram?

The Darkening of Tristram is an annual event in Diablo 3 where the game lets players explore locations from Diablo 1 – in the style of Diablo 1.

Of course, the location of Tristram can be visited in Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 without the event, but the Darkening changes the art style to a more retro theme, sending players back in time, and is much darker in tone.

Naturally, players will be able to unlock some retro-themed loot and keep these items after the event has ended, but the main draw of the Darkening of Tristram is nostalgia.

Of course, Diablo 3’s player base remains strong as of the end of 2024, but as the game becomes yet another year older, there’s no telling if this could be the last Darkening of Tristram event as more players move over to Diablo 4.

After all, Diablo 3 is no longer making new seasons, it’s most recent borrowing from previous themes. Diablo 4 one day may become the host of this event, but until then, it’s a great reason to jump back into Diablo 3.