Diablo 4 has been confusing players with a strange balance of revealing clothing and chaste demons since the beta. Now Blizzard has introduced the latest class, and their clothing has reignited the discussion. There is a flurry of mockery for past decisions and some frustration about the current circumstances.
What is it with the lack of nudity?
- For several years, Blizzard has repeatedly censored suggestive themes in their games. In 2019, numerous cards in Hearthstone were completely altered.
- Soon after, there was another adjustment in World of Warcraft: women in lingerie were abruptly turned into fruit baskets. No reasons were given, but speculations suggest it may be due to the laws in China or – later – the company’s sexism scandal.
- The censorship has also affected Diablo 4. Enemies like Andariel or simple succubi, who had unveiled breasts in Diablo 2, at least wear scant clothing in Diablo 4. This confuses players more.
This is what Blizzard shows now: On July 18, 2024, Blizzard officially introduced the new class Spiritborn in a one-hour livestream. Among other things, it discussed the class’s skills, gameplay, and backstory. You can find the details about the class in our preview report on the Spiritborn.
In the stream, several armor sets for the Spiritborn were shown, and one of them consists of just a few strips of wrapped fabric (via Reddit). The Spiritborn here is essentially naked.
When we visited Blizzard, armor was a topic of discussion: The Spiritborn actually don’t need any armor. Their spirits provide all the protection they need; they wear clothing only to visibly approach their protector.
However, it is this new clothing that is now sparking a major discussion about how appropriate the censorship of nudity in Diablo 4 actually is.
Spiritborn will appear with the new expansion Vessel of Hatred. You can see the gameplay for the class here:
“The game is not for kids, so don’t treat us like one”
The creator of the thread simply sent the image of the armor and, within less than 20 hours, gathered over 1,000 upvotes and almost 400 comments. The top comment is direct mockery: “Why is Blizzard so afraid to show skin?”
Similarly, most comments make fun of the appearance. Not because the armor is ridiculous, but rather because Blizzard is unnecessarily strict in other areas – as if the community were full of horned-up players. In a detailed critique, it says:
So far, Blizzard has invested a shocking amount of time and money to prevent every bit of skin in an extremely bloody game for adults in a last-minute change […]
I just helped a lady find her completely skinned Hellraiser husband and slaughtered the demonic mother of humanity. I am covered in a 5-inch thick layer of blood, wound exudate, and pus. Seeing a succubus in her obvious last-minute burqini or the doodles made by a mad cultist of the literally supernatural embodiment of motherhood, only to take the time to modestly wrap her in a cloth, makes me roll my eyes and pulls me out of the game.
The game is not for kids, so don’t treat us like we are kids. Just make it an optional setting or something. There are plenty of risqué references everywhere and in item names. Most people will survive seeing an ankle or two.
A similar discussion already took place earlier when Blizzard released a skin for huntresses – that could have appeared in an adult catalog. In the Reddit thread, players mention that such things were not a problem before, for instance in Diablo 2. And in the beta of the game, there were still some uncensored corpses.
Users suspect that at some point there was a turning point when suggestive references simply became unacceptable and point to the “Hot Coffee” incident from GTA. This almost repeated itself in Red Dead Redemption 2: 15 years after GTA, Red Dead Redemption 2 has a sex mod – Take-2 bans it
