Some Diablo Immortal players who used third-party Eternal Orbs resellers now can't play the game
"I think I will quit."
Diablo Immortal players who purchased Eternal Orbs via third-party sellers with real money have had their purchases revoked, leaving them with in-game debts.
As one of the key currencies in the game, Eternal Orbs are crucial to progression, and are bought with real money. However, players who have forked out for Eternal Orbs via third-party sellers - no doubt in a bid to try and save a bit of money; in-game, they cost £0.89 GBP ($0.99 USD) for 60 all the way up to £89.99 GBP ($99.99 USD) for 7200 - have had their Orbs revoked.
While there's little doubt that the Eternal Orbs were sold contrary to Blizzard's ToS and most players likely knew that going in, it's had a devastating impact on some players and led to significant deficits that will prevent them from fully participating in the game until the "debt" is cleared.
As spotted by PCGN, one of the players most affected is Shia, who has shared a screenshot showing a (negative) balance of -2,491,025 Orbs. According to people better at maths than me, that's the equivalent to around £31,000 ($35K).
“It became more expensive,” Shia explained in a video on YouTube, and transcribed by PCGN. "In the beginning it was $20 [USD per 7200 orbs], but it went up to about $50.
"I think I will quit," they added.
It comes just days after Blizzard revealed it was redesigning Diablo Immortal's legendary crests to "help differentiate" them from the eternal legendary chests that cost players real money.
Despite the controversy, Diablo Immortal has stemmed the flow of falling Blizzard user numbers, and given the company a modest increase in monthly active engagement. After falling to 22 million monthly active users for the quarter ending in March 2022, Diablo Immortal has helped Blizzard back to 27 million for the quarter ending at the beginning of July.