The start of Season 21 is the next big event in Diablo 3. It seems that at the beginning, they aim to deliberately avoid competition from Path of Exile.
What is known about the new season: In the Blizzard forums, Diablo 3 has now announced when the current Season 20 will end. This will happen on June 21 at 5:00 PM German time.
Usually, it takes one to two weeks before the new season will start. This pattern is known from previous season episodes.
So, it is assumed that the new Season 21 in Diablo 3 will start on June 26 or, more likely, on July 3. Both are Fridays. The typical days when these events launch in Blizzard’s ARPG.
Is there a deliberate avoidance of Path of Exile?
What is happening at Path of Exile? This ARPG is constantly being filled with new content – the next comes in the form of the Harvest league in Path of Exile. During this league, players gather seeds they find during their adventures. These are then planted in the grove and supplied with life energy so that eventually monsters grow from them that must be defeated.
The league starts on June 19 for PC and a week later for PS4 and Xbox One. Such an expansion is always a big event that many players participate in. The Delirium expansion in March set a Steam record.
In summary:
- Path of Exile starts on June 19 with the Harvest league
- On June 21, Season 20 of Diablo 3 ends
- The start of Season 21 in Diablo 3 is expected on June 26 or July 3 – this is not officially known yet
What stands out? It seems that Blizzard is deliberately choosing to go around Path of Exile here. The start date of the Harvest league of PoE has been known since June 2. Only on June 9 did Blizzard officially explain when their current season will end.
Players who like both Path of Exile and Diablo 3 do not have to choose between the two major events in the games. Instead, they could theoretically play Path of Exile for one to two weeks before switching to Diablo 3. Thus, the ARPG audience is not being split.
This has not always been the case – Diablo was unfortunate in confrontation
This is how it went in Season 20: The current Season 20 of Diablo 3 started on March 13, 2020, simultaneously with the Delirium expansion of Path of Exile. This was criticized by players.
Players predicted a “ghost season” for D3. They accused Blizzard of “madness” – they should have started the season at a different time.
The then-community manager of Diablo stated at that time that they could not have started the season earlier. It was important to fix last-minute bugs or balance changes.
She wrote at that time that such scheduling overlaps can happen repeatedly. “It is more an unfortunate coincidence than anything else.” (via reddit)
It seems that they do not want to leave the start of Season 21 to any unfortunate coincidence and are now deliberately making room to avoid overlaps.
However, the testers still have some issues with Season 21 of Diablo 3. The season bonus is troubling them. In solo play, it is currently overwhelmingly strong, while in other areas it is rather weak.
