The zoom factor is a topic that has been on players’ minds even before the release of Diablo 4 . In Season 4, the developers want to change something about it, and the community is pleased. For some, it’s even a reason to return to the game.
On March 20, the developers provided insights into the content of Season 4 during their livestream. They announced fundamental changes to the loot system and the Codex of Power. To allow the community to test the content, a PTR (Public Test Realm) will be established.
What detail brings particular joy? During the stream, the developers also showed some gameplay scenes after the changes – in principle, how it might look in Season 4. In the Q&A session at the end of the livestream, a comment from the chat caught their attention. The camera in the scenes seemed to keep zooming out.
Game Director Joe Piepiora noted: They didn’t discuss this in the stream at all. There is indeed supposed to be an option for camera zooming. More will be revealed in the PTR.
So yes, there is a gameplay setting, starting with the current default setting that we have in Diablo 4. We have heard the feedback and have taken steps to pull the camera back a bit […]. This will be available for you in the PTR.
Joe Piepiora during the livestream, Timestamp 2:09:43 on YouTube
On Reddit, the topic was discussed on March 20 and users seem very happy about it. Some note that this is even a reason for them to give the game another chance. The camera perspective had already been criticized during the beta, everything was simply too close.
A topic that is also being discussed right now is ray tracing, which will soon come to the game:
“This brings me back to the game”
How is the announcement received? The post on Reddit is simply titled “In Season 4, the camera can zoom out further” and features a screenshot with the same text, which according to the poster is from wowhead.com. Currently, the post has over 1,670 upvotes – seemingly receiving a lot of approval.
The top comment comes from “SonofSeth13”. The user writes: “As silly as it sounds, this could be the reason I play the game again.” Over 600 people agree with him in the form of upvotes.
Someone responds to him that it isn’t even remotely silly. “If you play another ARPG and then come back to this one, it’s like being doused with cold water. It will make a huge difference.”
“ThatOneGuyy310” writes: “Crap, I guess that’s it for me; I’ll come back and check it out.”
“Exactly my thought – the further zoom brings me back to the game,” comments “nbsalmon1”.
Is the change permanent? On X (formerly Twitter), Community Manager Adam Fletcher emphasized on March 21 that the camera change is “definitely coming to the game”, meaning not just for one season and also on consoles. “There will be two options, the ‘Standard’ option, which corresponds to the current distance in the game, and ‘Wide’, which represents the extended distance.”
On wowhead.com there are four comparison images from Diablo 2: Resurrected, Diablo 3, Diablo 4 now, and Diablo 4 in Season 4 that show the zoom.
Motion sickness and a poor overview
What was the problem with the zoom? For some, the camera perspective causes motion sickness. “A_moral_Animal” comments: “The zoom for some reason makes me nauseous and my eyes hurt. This doesn’t happen in any other ARPG.”
And “NMe84” writes: “Imagine a game where you’re not being shot from off-screen because you can actually zoom out far enough.” That due to ranged attacks from enemies, you often don’t even know who is attacking and from where, has already been criticized in July 2023. Many in Diablo 4 lack an overview in battles and while exploring.
Others comment under the Reddit post that this is a particularly important and good change. Someone comments: “Diablo 4 will be much better because of this!” A user jokingly writes: “Hail Lilith, Holy Mother, Bringer of a better camera zoom and less motion sickness!”
That such “Quality of Life” improvements are important and well-received, has already been shown by the introduction of WASD controls in Season 3 of Diablo 4. Some of these changes seem to even lead players to return to a game.
