As part of our discussion about Season 8 of Diablo 4, we asked the team if the knowledge that billionaire Elon Musk has been playing and streaming the game has caused any change in its popularityTech08:00, 02 May 2025The team is squarely focused on improving Diablo 4Elon Musk has professed to being a huge fan of ARPGs like Path of Exile 2 and Diablo 4, but the jury remains out on whether or not he's any good at them after it was revealed he pays others to boost his account.After an abrupt end to his recent stream, I was curious about how Musk's emergence as a fan of Diablo 4 affected the game's popularity, and the developers working on the project.‌As part of my Diablo 4 Season 8 conversation with Colin Finer, Design Director for Systems and Deric Nunez, Lead Seasons Designer for Season 8, I asked if knowledge that the man who has the President's ear makes a difference as far as development goes.‌Perhaps unsurprisingly, the team is completely unfazed and focused on making Season 8 of the 2023 title the best it can be.Musk is the richest man in the world, but he's not great at gaming(Image: AFP via Getty Images)I asked if the team has seen more players loading into Sanctuary since Musk began talking about the game, but Finer explained it's not really something that's on the team's mind.Article continues below"That's an interesting question," he said."I don't know how much any one specific member of our community necessarily kind of impacts numbers."What moves the needle the most and what the team maintains their full focus on is just getting the high-quality releases out like we're doing with Season 8."‌Nunez agreed, saying the team's focus is on creating long-term improvements for Diablo 4."To Colin's point, focusing on the new [updates], but also revamping the old is where my mind kind of falls in that one."‌In our previous interview from this week, the duo described Season 8 as the team taking "big swings" to improve the game."Every season, we always look for new opportunities to make big swings. And I think Season 8 is kind of a representation of us going big and bold. We're not just bringing some seasonal favourites like questlines, we're also bringing back major characters like Belial," Finer told me.For more on Diablo 4, check out our discussion about the Berserk crossover, as well as comparisons to other ARPG titles.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌