Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo 4 has paid microtransactions, but Blizzard claims they won’t be anything like Diablo Immortal.
Blizzard announced Diablo 4’s 2023 release window in a rather testy time for fans of the franchise, seeing as the mobile/pc spin-off Diablo Immortal is currently in the midst of controversy due to its whacky monetisation. Blizzard has asked fans not to worry about Diablo 4 getting the same level of monetisation, however, saying it won’t be anything like Diablo Immortal.
Over the last weekend, fans discovered that Diablo 4 was confirmed to launch with an in-game store where players can pay for additional content, despite this already being a full-priced game. Blizzard’s Adam Fletcher addressed this on Twitter, saying that, “paid content is built around optional cosmetic items & eventually full expansions,” for the sequel.
This is a departure from Diablo 3, which did not feature such paid cosmetics. Diablo Immortal on the other hand, is all about in-game microtransactions. The game so heavily leans on a pay-to-win method of player progression that its PC version has sunk to a lowly user score of 0.2 on Metacritic, and 0.5 for mobile. Immortal has earned plenty of backlash for its grindy endgame that emphasises microtransactions as the best and fastest method of progression, which hasn’t made fans optimistic for Diablo 4’s monetisation model.
Fans probably wouldn’t be as upset with Diablo 4’s in-game shop if not for Blizzard already demonstrating its greed with Diablo Immortal just earlier this month, leaving the sequel in a tough spot for now.
