Stat-boosting products won’t be available through seasonal passes or the in-game store.
A long-awaited update on Blizzard’s Diablo IV monetization strategies has been released. The blog post’s summary states that Diablo IV will be a fully paid-for game with an in-game shop and elective seasonal passes. Playing the game is the only way to increase the strength of your characters. The method of monetization is as follows.
Seasons will be used to organise Diablo IV’s endgame by Blizzard. Up to four seasons can be played in the game each year, with the first one starting soon after it is released. New features, balancing adjustments, and quality-of-life enhancements will be added with each new season, along with new quests to accomplish and goods to gather. You’ll need to make a new character to take part in the most recent season, just like in Diablo II and III. Nevertheless, you can keep playing your previous ones in the “Eternal Realm” of the game.
Diablo IV will have fewer seasonal passes than Diablo Immortal and Overwatch 2, where new ones may be purchased every four and nine weeks, respectively. This is a result of the schedule. Both free and paid tracks are included in each season pass. You will receive incentives for advancing through the first that make it simpler to level your characters. The free tier will specifically give “Season Boosts,” which according to Blizzard will speed up your progress for the length of that season. You won’t be able to use cash to buy more Season Boosts or unlock them more quickly.
The paid track, in contrast, grants in-game currency and cosmetic items. Through Diablo IV’s in-game shop, you can buy cosmetic items using the latter. According to Kegan Clark, head of product for Diablo IV, “nothing sold in the Shop gives a direct or indirect gameplay advantage.” Therefore, even though many of these items may appear to be strong pieces of gear, they lack in-game numbers.
Additionally, Blizzard asserts that playing the game will lead you to some of the best-looking armour, weapons, and transmorgs (items you can use to alter a piece of gear’s appearance). “The Shop gives a greater variety of options, not necessarily consistently better options,” Clark continued.
Although one might argue that a series of action role-playing games like Diablo should not have consumable cosmetics, the system preview provided by Blizzard for Diablo IV at least looks much better than its Diablo Immortal counterpart because it will let you combine different items to make your own sets. Additionally, you can use the included goods on every character in your account who belongs to that class after purchasing a premium set for that class.
The Season Journey is a progression mechanism distinct from the battle pass system (pictured above). The Season Journey allows you to gain items and cosmetics by completing chapter tasks, just like its Diablo III equivalent. The base game comes with the Season Journey, and completing its pages will advance you toward the current season pass.
Following weeks of negative headlines on Diablo Immortal’s relentless monetization comes today’s blog post. YouTuber Jtisallbusiness posted a video at the beginning of August lamenting the fact that, despite spending $100,000 to max out his character, he was unable to take part in the game’s endgame PVP. Later, Blizzard promised to fix the problem, but not before JT’s account contributed to the game’s unfavourable press. Despite the loud criticism of Immortal’s monetization, Blizzard’s financial performance doesn’t appear to have been impacted. One of the quickest mobile games to accomplish that feat, the game reached $100 million in lifetime revenue eight weeks after its introduction.
