Blizzard has released a long-awaited update on its Diablo IV monetization plans. The blog post summarizes that Diablo IV will be a full-priced title with an in-game shop and optional seasonal passes. However, the only way to increase the power of your characters is to play the game. Here’s how the monetization process will work.
Blizzard intends to build Diablo IV’s endgame around seasons. The game will have up to four seasons per year, with the first one starting soon after the game’s release. Each season will bring new features, balance changes, and improvements to the quality of life, as well as new quests to complete and items to collect.
To participate in the latest season, you’ll need to create a new character, just like in Diablo II and III. However, your previous ones will live on in the game’s “Eternal Realm,” where you can play them again.
As a result of that schedule, Diablo IV will have fewer seasonal passes available for purchase than Diablo Immortal and Overwatch 2, where new ones are available every four and nine weeks, respectively.
There will be both free and paid tracks included in each season pass. Progressing through the former will earn you rewards that will help you level your characters faster.
The free tier will specifically award “Season Boosts,” which Blizzard claims will accelerate your progress for the duration of that season. You will not be able to spend money to buy more Season Boosts or unlock them faster.
By contrast, the paid track awards cosmetic items and the game’s premium currency. You can use the latter to purchase cosmetic items through Diablo IV’s in-game shop. “Nothing offered in the Shop grants a direct or indirect gameplay advantage,” said Kegan Clark, Diablo IV director of product. “So, while many of these may look like powerful pieces of gear, they have no in-game stats.”
Additionally, Blizzard claims some of the best-looking armor, weapons and transmorgs – items you can use to change the appearance of a piece of gear – will be found by playing the game. “The Shop offers more diversity of choices, not systematically better choices,” Clark added.
While some may argue that purchasing cosmetics goes against the spirit of an action RPG series like Diablo, the system previewed by Blizzard for Diablo IV appears to be far superior to its Diablo Immortal counterpart in that it will allow you to mix and match individual items to create your own sets.
Furthermore, once you purchase a premium set for a specific class, you can use the included items on all of your account’s characters of that class.
Season Journey is a progression mechanic separate from the battle pass system (pictured above). The Season Journey, like its Diablo III counterpart, will allow you to earn items and cosmetics by completing chapter tasks. The Season Journey comes with the base game, and completing its pages earns you progress toward the current season pass.
Today’s blog post comes after weeks of negative press surrounding Diablo Immortal’s aggressive monetization. Jtisallbusiness, a YouTuber, posted a video in early August complaining that he couldn’t participate in the game’s endgame PVP after spending $100,000 to max out his character.
Blizzard later stated that it would address the issue, but not before JT’s story contributed to the negative conversation surrounding the game. Despite all of the outrage over Immortal’s monetization, it doesn’t appear to have had an impact on Blizzard’s bottom line.
The game surpassed $100 million in lifetime revenue eight weeks after its release, making it one of the fastest mobile titles to do so.
