Someone Recreated ‘Diablo III’ in NFT Game ‘Nifty Island’ Amid Airdrop Campaign

Diablo is coming to NFT game Nifty Island—but not officially. It’s all thanks to a pseudonymous AI game developer adding and shaping land based on the popular dungeon crawler “Diablo III.”

A longtime fan of the Diablo franchise, pseudonymous island creator Dav said he was drawn to Nifty Island because of the ability to expand the creations continuously. Nifty Island just launched its open beta last week with a play-to-airdrop campaign enticing players to jump in.

“Diablo III is my all-time favorite game, so recreating it is an homage to the nostalgia, and I’m sure many other people would enjoy it,” Dav told Decrypt. “I saw some other people making Halo and Call of Duty maps, so I jumped at the idea.”

The Nifty Island project is Dav’s latest foray into virtual worlds. He’s also the creative force behind the still-in-development “Into Auris” story that leverages artificial intelligence tools to create character and landscape designs.

“Into Auris is a story I have worked on my entire life, but never been able to create,” Dav said. “AI image, video, audio etc [tools have] allowed me to.”

Nifty Island is a 3D social game where players can design islands, complete quests, and earn NFT rewards. Nifty Island offers cross-chain integration, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Base. Nifty Island has quickly gained popularity for its free content and expansive maps, not to mention the upcoming airdrop.

Looking to create a unique island leveraging Nifty Island’s tools and stock images, Dav said features visitors can expect include an island footrace that “tours” the entire scenery, a Capture the Flag game inside the main town square, and a Spy Hunt feature for users who aren’t into player-vs-player (PvP) modes.

The process of recreating Diablo III’s world, Dav said, took over 20 hours to complete, but the gamer-turned-metaverse creator said the project is almost complete.

“By the end of the weekend, I’ll probably have it mostly done. I’m about 20 hours in, and am working on the next area now,” he said. “The fun thing is you keep building and adding so I can keep adding and expanding to my island.”

Launched in 1997 by Blizzard Entertainment, the Diablo franchise tells the story of the High Heavens, the Burning Hells, and Sanctuary. The latest installment, Diablo IV, launched last June.

While copyright and intellectual property remain a hot-button issue in the gaming and generative AI industry, Dav said that while modeling his Nifty Island project around Diablo 3, he emphasized that the project is more about recreating the vibe than copying Blizzard’s actual intellectual property.

“It’s fan-created art; I haven’t actually taken any 3D assets from Blizzard and used them without permission,” Dav said. “Just Diablo-inspired lore and themes.”