Those who paid more money were able to play Diablo 4 a few days before the release. This is different with the first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, because there is no early access here. This seems to be well received.
What advantage is it? At the release of Diablo 4, there was the option to get an “early access”. Early access was available to all owners of the Deluxe and Ultimate Editions. However, these were slightly more expensive than the standard version of Diablo 4.
Recently, the editions for the first expansion of Diablo 4, Vessel of Hatred, were made available for pre-order. Again, there are Deluxe and Ultimate Editions, but this time they apparently come without early access. This means that players only receive cosmetic items and a token for the Battle Pass when they pre-order, for instance, the Deluxe Edition. And this seems to please many players.
If you missed the dark and bloody trailer for Vessel of Hatred, you can watch it here:
“No Early Access, but a more expensive release”
Why is the advantage controversial? Essentially, a game is already finished before the general release but is only available to those willing to pay more. This means: They can play the new content earlier, while others can only do so at the “normal” release date.
In the case of Diablo 4, the release was on June 6, 2023, a Tuesday. With early access, it was possible to play from Friday and use the weekend for it.
What does the community say about it? The well-known German streamer Gronkh watched the Summer Game Fest in his Twitch streams together with his community and his streamer colleague PhunkRoyal. The streamer Maurice Weber, who followed the shows on-site in LA, was also live connected.
Maurice Weber commented on June 10 during Gronkh’s Twitch stream about “Vessel of Hatred” as follows:
[They interestingly have not done the early access this time. It was available at the launch of Diablo 4 and it was also a bit cheeky because […] the actual launch is a Tuesday and the early access is conveniently a few days earlier on Friday. […]
I believe it is not early access. The moment from which the game is finished and you can buy it, that is the release. You do not have early access; you just say, “We are releasing today for 90 euros, and in three days the price drops.” […] Because this is not an “early access” version that is still being patched or anything, no feedback is being collected; this is not early access, this is just the release that is simply more expensive.
Maurice is part of the Webedia network, which also includes MeinMMO, GameStar, and GamePro.
Diablo expert and Twitch streamer wudijo also addresses the editions of Vessel of Hatred in his YouTube video. There he notes that this time there is no “early access” access and thus “no pay-to-win” (Source: YouTube with timestamp).
On Reddit, the topic is also addressed. There, the creator of the post writes on June 9: “Obviously, there is no early access advantage between the versions this time! Big W (Win).” The post currently has over 1,230 upvotes (as of June 12, 01:30 AM).
When will Vessel of Hatred be released? At the Xbox Showcase 2024, Blizzard released the intro cinematic for the 1st expansion for Diablo 4 and announced a release date for Vessel of Hatred. It will start on October 8. There will be a new class as well as a new area along with a continuing story. Additionally, there will be a PvE co-op activity and new skills, among other things. More on this: Diablo 4: All about Vessel of Hatred – Release, new class, and content
