Well, it’s official. Diablo 4 will be a live service game. It’ll have seasonal content, a battle pass, premium currency, microtransactions, the works. Fans of the series had hoped that the live service content that Blizzard previously hinted at would be minimal and that the focus would be on telling a full story from beginning to end. But unfortunately, it seems like that’s not the case.
Diablo 4 places emphasis on live service content
In its quest to further destroy its intellectual property and reputation, Blizzard will be releasing seasonal content for Diablo 4, which will include a season pass. The blog article detailing this states that these are scheduled to release quarterly. This means that in addition to $70 for the base game, you’ll get to pay $40 more a year if the company adapts the industry standard $10 price for its battle pass.
The whole setup sounds a lot like Destiny 2’s implementation of cosmetics and content. You can get a taste of the season for free, but you’ll need to pay to get any of the really good stuff. The most coveted rewards will be cosmetic transmogs which will be unique to each season.
A unique twist is that your old characters are basically vaulted at the start of a new season. So to participate in the new content, you must make a new one. However, there are Season Boosts you unlock by completing battle pass tiers that’ll help you level faster. These boosts affect all characters you create for that season once unlocked as well, so you can potentially level multiple classes quickly.
The shop is also very Eververse-esque. You can purchase cosmetics there for premium currency, and we’d bet they’ll switch up each season. According to the blog, nothing you can buy directly or indirectly affects gameplay, and it’s all cosmetic.
It’s sad that we’re at a point where a regular old predatory FOMO-fueled live service model is something Blizzard feels proud to share. However, Diablo Immortal is so predatory and toxic that practically anything looks good in comparison.
We’ll find out just hard we’re going to be nickeled and dimed when Diablo 4 releases sometime next year.
In other news, High on Life is delayed for polishing, and Toys for Bob is working on a new game.
