Diablo 3's Lead Designer Is Now Working At Obsidian

Diablo III lead designer Leonard Boyarsky has left Blizzard, but he certainly rebounded into a new position with a quickness. It turns out he’s now working at Obsidian, though no word yet on what he’ll actually be doing there.

Boyarsky’s Facebook page was updated yesterday with a rather simple message. “Left job at Blizzard,” it said; short, sweet and to the point.

We didn’t have long to wonder what the lead designer of Diablo III would be up to next, however, as yet another Facebook post filled in the blanks. This time around it was Obsidian’s Timothy Cain hitting up social media, claiming that he had a “new co-worker,” and that he hoped “he doesn’t talk too much.” That post was coupled with a pretty funny picture of Cain looking over his shoulder cautiously at Boyarsky, who was in turn looking over his own shoulder at Cain with a rather suspicious expression.

And just in case there are any conspiracy theorists out there with far too much time on their hand, working to prove that Cain’s photo was meticulously edited and faked, the Obsidian Twitter account has now stepped in to set all doubts aside. Here’s their confirmation:

So, there you have it. We’re not clear on the actual timing of this transition but, from the looks of things, Boyarski departed Blizzard and, in record time, made his way to Obsidian. We expect further details to surface in the coming weeks but, for now, we’re at least happy to see a talented guy like Boyarski wasn’t on the market too long.

Other than a new World of Warcraft expansion and the highly anticipated Overwatch, we’re not sure what Boyarski may have been working on at Blizzard when he made his exit. It’s entirely possible he wrapped up work on one of those games, or maybe something tied to Diablo III, and felt it was time to shake things up a bit.

Since Boyarsky worked on the first two Fallout games and Obsidian developed Fallout: New Vegas, we can’t help but wonder if something from that post-apocalyptic universe is in the works at Obsidian again. But that’s pure speculation, so don’t quote us or anything.

What’s also highly likely is that Boyarsky has been brought in to work on the new RPG coming from Obsidian, Tyranny. Again, the guy has a lot of experience in the genre and could probably provide a huge hand in getting a new IP off the ground.

If you happen to be a near and dear friend of Boyarsky’s and have some sort of insider information as to his new position at Obsidian (or if you just want to lie to our faces about it), feel free to drop the details in the comments below.