It’s funny how some game features become standard, even if the folks who pioneered them weren’t big fans. Take the stamina bar, for example. It’s a core part of many modern video games, but the director behind a true classic, Diablo II, has openly said he really dislikes it.
David Brevik, the man who directed and helped create Diablo II, recently spoke about this. He joined Chris Wilson, the creator of Path of Exile, for a video chat. This discussion came just days after Diablo II’s 25th anniversary. Brevik made it very clear: he finds the stamina system incredibly annoying. He especially felt this way about it in Diablo II, the very game he helped bring to life. You can watch their full conversation on YouTube.
“I hated the stamina bar in Diablo II,” Brevik shared during the video, a point he also made in an interview with GamesRadar. “It always made me feel bad. Later in the game, it wasn’t a problem. But in the early parts, it felt like a punishment for new players. It was almost like a ‘newbie tax’.”
Brevik explained that the original idea for stamina was to stop players from running away too quickly or too far from enemies. The team wanted to keep players from just dodging every fight. But it quickly became clear this didn’t work as planned in the final game. Because of this, most later Diablo games skipped the stamina bar. The only recent exception is Diablo Immortal. Still, many modern games have found ways to use stamina bars successfully.
“Players usually don’t want to run away or sprint past enemies,” Brevik continued. “They want to fight them and get loot. This type of game isn’t meant for defensive play. The idea that you could just run forever and never die in this kind of game seemed pretty silly.”
Despite Brevik’s many complaints, Chris Wilson, his chat partner, pointed out some upsides. Wilson suggested that a stamina system can push players to overcome limitations. It can make them feel good when they finally reach a point where stamina is no longer a worry. Even so, Brevik still thinks there could have been a much better design for it. While he admits there might be a few good points, his overall feeling about the stamina bar remains quite negative. It goes to show that even the most influential game designers can have strong feelings about the smallest details.