Diablo 4 Won’t Include Pay-to-Win Mechanics, Season Pass to Offer Cosmetic Rewards, Blizzard Confirms

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Diablo 4 will not feature pay-to-win mechanics. In a developer blog post, Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the hotly-anticipated dungeon crawler title will only contain cosmetic items in its in-game store. The deliberately fashioned statement comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding their last release, Diablo Immortal, which offered gameplay advantages in exchange for real-world money. The upcoming Diablo 4 also includes a battle pass system and is set to release sometime in 2023, across PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC.

Blizzard confirmed the news in their quarterly update report, detailing their plans for Diablo 4. “Our goal in designing our in-game purchases is that we want to create beautiful things which add value to players' experience of the game,” said Kegan Clark, director of product for Diablo IV. The latest instalment will see the return of Season Journey, as players are tasked with exploring the Sanctuary and earning limited-time rewards at the end of each chapter. Blizzard is planning to up the difficulty levels in the later stages, creating a rewarding experience for skilled players. Like Diablo 3, Seasons Journey will be free for all.

Season Pass is a new live service monetisation system in Diablo 4, adding new quests, challenges, and quality-of-life improvements to the game. Think of it like a battle pass system, where completing tasks and levelling up unlocks new items. But as mentioned before, these rewards are merely cosmetics and add no value to gameplay or skill. Tiers will be divided into two parts: Free and Premium. The Free tier, which is open to all, provides gameplay boosts for everyone — making it streamlined. In contrast, the Premium Tier — the ‘paid' battle pass —