Blizzard's Diablo 4 developers try to put monetisation worries to bed
Immortal jokes never die...
Yesterday, Blizzard confirmed that Diablo 4, the game that's not Diablo Immoral (sorry, I meant Immortal), will launch for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S next year. Since this news came to light, some have been voicing concerns that Diablo 4 may go down the same route as Diablo Immortal and have some kind of mobile-like monetisation and microtransactions attached to it.
In response, several of its developers have swiftly jumped in to try and quell any anxiety within the Diablo community.
"To be clear, [Diablo 4] is a full price game built for PC/PS/Xbox audiences," franchise exec Rod Fergusson tweeted yesterday.
"We are committed to delivering an incredible breadth of content after launch, for years to come, anchored around optional cosmetic items [and] full story driven expansions," he wrote, before promising more details soon.
Blizzard president Mike Ybarra went on to reshare this tweet from Fergusson, adding "100%".
Diablo's global community lead Adam Fletcher also reiterated this point, and tweeted "[Diablo 4] is coming out as a full price game built strictly for PC/console audiences.
"The game is huge [and] there will be tons of content after launch for all players. Paid content is built around optional cosmetic items [and] eventually full expansions."
He then went on to similarly share that more news about the game will be making its way to us some time in the near future.
On its release, Diablo 4 will have cross-play and cross-progression across all platforms. Blizzard has been pitching it as an open-ended experience without a "golden path" to follow, including in the endgame where you can choose to tackle Nightmare Dungeons, dedicated PvP zones, Paragon Boards to continue advancing and customising characters beyond max level, or unlock further world objectives from the Tree of Whispers for Legendary gear.