Diablo 4 Newcomers Horrified to Learn They Must Start a New Character to Play Season 1 Content

ign.com:

Some Diablo 4 players are coming to terms with confirmation they must start a new character to play Season 1 content.

Diablo 4 launched early June, and while some fans raced towards the level cap of 100 (and some even managed it with a level 100 Hardcore character), Blizzard itself recently revealed the vast majority of Diablo 4 players have yet to complete the campaign. And yet, the start of Season 1 nears. While Blizzard has yet to announce its release date, amid-to-late July window has been confirmed.

This week, Diablo development chief Rod Fergusson took to Twitter to confirm Diablo 4 players must create a new seasonal character to enjoy the Season 1 content, including its battle pass.

“To take part in the seasonal questline, mechanics, season journey, and battle pass, you will need to create a new seasonal character,” Fergusson said. “Playing campaign with seasonal character (if you so desire or need to finish) will also progress the season journey and battle pass.”

While this is how seasons worked in previous Diablo games (players replay the game with each season's new content rather than hitting the ground running with a maxed out character), series newcomers weren’t necessarily in the know. And it should be noted Diablo 4 is the first game in the series to have a battle pass. As a result, Fergusson’s clarification sparked a number of comments from concerned Diablo 4 players who feel they’re already being left behind just a few weeks after the game came out.

“I’m a new Diablo player and a new dad,” Twitter user @putbackthestars said. “I only have maybe an hour a day to game, if that. So my current character is only level 11. You’re saying I should basically not even play this game then right?”

Fergusson replied to this