Blizzard really wants to reassure you on Diablo 4's monetisation
Following criticism of Immortal.
Diablo 4 developer Blizzard has issued a lengthy blog post describing the kinds of things you'll be able to spend money on in its upcoming dungeon crawler - and things you won't.
It's the latest round of reassurance from Blizzard on Diablo 4 following the controversial monetisation of its recent free-to-play spin-off Diablo Immortal, in which players have argued you can pay extortionate amounts and become more powerful.
By contrast, Diablo 4 will feature a cosmetics shop and season pass - "none of which provide any pay-for-power options", Diablo 4 product director Kegan Clark said.
Seasons will add "all-new gameplay, quests, challenges, meta changes, and quality-of-life improvements", and come with a season pass offering both free and premium reward tracks.
Gameplay boosts will be offered as part of the free track and could, for example, accelerate XP. These will, however, be tied to your season level, and are not available faster via paying.
The premium season pass track will instead provide "rewards focused on aesthetics", some types of which will be exclusive, plus as dollops of premium currency to spend within the in-game shop.
As for the in-game shop, Blizzard described a store where you buy items at face-value "with no unpleasant surprises". As transmog options, these cosmetics have no power attached.
Shop cosmetics will remain "grounded within Diablo's world", Clark said - so maybe don't expect Tracer from Overwatch to suddenly appear.
Blizzard has also said there will be "hundreds of transmogs unlockable from drops in-game" of the "highest visual quality". The shop simply "offers more diversity of choices".
Today's blog post follows Blizzard's earlier confirmation that the upcoming Overwatch 2 will feature no loot boxes, opting instead for a similar seasonal battle pass and in-game store.
Loot boxes in the original Overwatch are also going away - and will be automatically opened soon if you don't do it yourself.
Diablo 4 is due to launch at some point in 2023.