Blizzard has released new information about Diablo 4 in a stream. This included, among other things, the controversial Collector’s Edition, some features of the game, and a topic that many fans are concerned about: Battle Pass and monetization.
The most important things at a glance:
- On December 16 at 8:00 PM, there was a stream about Diablo 4 that lasted about an hour. You can watch it on Twitch afterwards.
- The Collector’s Box of Diablo 4, which does not contain a game, will cost 110 Euros. You can find it here in the Blizzard Gear Store.
- Diablo 4 will have a Battle Pass, which will run for 3 months, with a free and a paid path. The premium version will cost $10, so it is likely to cost 10 Euros as well.
What’s included in the Battle Pass? The developers explain in the stream that the Battle Pass will include both cosmetics and certain “boosts,” such as for experience points. However, these will be included in the free path, so everyone will have access to them, and a pay-to-win factor is excluded.
The paid path costs $10 and is expected to provide more cosmetics. In addition to the Battle Pass, there will also be the Seasonal Journey, as you already know from Diablo 3. Here you can complete tasks that reward you with “Favor,” which will allow you to progress in the Battle Pass.
Completing the Battle Pass is expected to take around 75 hours, which is about 6 hours per week. As a reminder: reaching the max level alone is supposed to take 180 hours.
Certain boosts in the Battle Pass require a certain character level, so you cannot just buy Battle Pass levels to progress faster. This limit also applies if you have gained level-ups, for example, through the expensive Ultimate Edition.
In the stream, the developers showed the new cinematic multiple times, in which the most important angel in Diablo is introduced for the first time:
Diablo 4: Season 1 starts only “weeks after release”
Diablo 4 will feature seasons, like Diablo 2 (back then still as “Ladder”). Seasons are large content updates that come with new content such as quests, monsters, and tasks. The seasons as well as the Battle Pass will each run for 3 months.
The Game Director, Joe Shely, explains that the first season will start only “weeks after the release” of Diablo 4. This way, no one has an advantage on the leaderboards if they get early access by pre-ordering the deluxe or ultimate edition.
Joe Shely recently talked with Diablo chief Rod Ferguson about what makes Diablo 4 so special:
All major updates for Diablo 4 will be completely free. The developers have not yet provided information regarding DLCs and expansions, but we assume that they will be charged as they were in Diablo 3.
Diablo 4 will be released on June 6, 2023, and you can already pre-order the game to guarantee access to the beta. The action RPG is one of the most important releases of 2023:
