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So all eyes are on Diablo 4, which is due out “in the next 12 months” according to a statement made during the Microsoft Xbox Conference this past weekend. Overwatch 2 hasn’t fared so well in the public eye ever since it was revealed, and Diablo Immortal has been earning the ire of players all over the world. When coupled with Warcraft III: Reforged and all the other goings-on at Blizzard, the company has a clear image problem. Diablo 4 cosmetics likely won’t fix that.
In any case, it hopes to solve those problems with Diablo 4, which is now seemingly the golden goose that will restore some of the company’s reputation: at least in the eyes of some execs. But they’re having a hard time selling it given, well, everything we just talked about above.
Following criticism that flowed via Immortal, Blizzard’s GM of the Diablo franchise, Rod Fergusson, took to Twitter to defend the upcoming mainline entry. He explains:
“To be clear, D4 is a full price game built for PC/PS/Xbox audiences. We are committed to delivering an incredible breadth of content after launch, for years to come, anchored around optional cosmetic items & full story driven expansions.”
So, reading between the lines, this seems to imply that there could be a lack of paid gameplay-impacting items, but with modern Blizzard, you never know how that might turn out in the end. The big straightforward takeaways here is that it’s still a “full price game,” with “optional Diablo 4 cosmetics” (that’s going to be a yikes from a lot of people given that they just reconfirmed it’s a full-price game) and “full story-driven expansions” (which could be good, but how is this being monetized, is the question).
Also, what about the inevitably of a season pass? This was likely already talked about behind closed doors, but not confirmed (this listing doesn’t bode well on that front). In any case, under duress, we have a bit more info on Diablo 4 now. Optimistically, under Microsoft, the company could improve overall, and “years to come” of content could be a step up from what Diablo 3 ended up getting. But I know a lot of people understandably aren’t betting on that.
