Diablo-style hack-and-slash coming to Facebook

As the social gaming industry continues to bring in billions of dollars, more and more talent is headed in that direction. One studio to come out of the woodwork is Rebel Entertainment, founded by former Disney Online exec Mike Goslin and other veterans from the likes of EA, Zynga and Insomniac Games.

The guys are working on a Diablo-esque hack-and-slash for Facebook, expected out later this year. This will be quite different from the normal Farmville fare, and will even feature real-time co-op multiplayer.

This unique multiplayer mode Goslin hopes will help the game stand out, as the majority of multiplayer found in Facebook games is asynchronous.

“I think the big differentiator is really playing with real people in real-time, not just playing a single-player game that has sort of social features that allow you to communicate asynchronously,” Goslin said.

“The only way to retain players is to give them more to do, give them more content. To me the best and longest-lasting content is community. If you’re playing it against other real people, meeting other real people, building relationships, the experience keeps changing, because the dynamics of interacting with other real people are what’s interesting.”

Goslin, as general manager, has been heading up the project for the last year. It’s pretty exciting to see some more unique and innovative titles to hit Facebook, it’ll be interesting to see what Rebel can come up with.