Blizzard has revealed a key feature of Diablo III's upcoming patch 2.3.0 was created to honour a former employee who passed away from cancer last year.

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The patch is set to introduce something called Kanai's Cube, the precursor the Horadric Cube introduced in Diablo II and used to upgrade items. In Diablo III it will offer you a huge range of options when it comes to item customisation and holds the potential to extract a Legendary power from an item. All in all, it sounds pretty cool But there's a deeper meaning behind the cube too. Back in 2005, a Diablo fan named Kevin Kanai Griffith joined the Blizzard team as an artist. Throughout his long career at the company he worked on some of its biggest hits including World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Mists of Pandaria expansions, the accompanying Trading Card Game, and finally making the leap onto the Diablo III team. He also worked on the Reaper of Souls expansion.In 2012, Kevin was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer called Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma (ASPS). Throughout treatment he continued to work on Diablo III, and was instrumental in the creation of the weather and day/night cycles in the game's Adventure Mode. Unfortunately, Kevin passed away on October 17, 2014."His spirit and legacy will always live on in the many games he’s touched with his stunning art, as well as the hearts of every individual who had the honor of knowing him," Blizzard writes. "We miss you, Kevin. This Cube is for you."Blizzard's tribute is incredibly touching, and the company has a long history of honouring its employees and fans in this way. For more moving stories like this, check out our feature on the people who live forever in the games they loved

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter