Diablo Immortal microtransactions have sparked a brutal backlash

pcgamer.com:

It's been less than a week since Diablo Immortal(opens in new tab) launched on mobile devices and PC (in open beta), and the game is already facing a furious backlash from players over its in-game purchases. Numerous threads criticizing the monetization have appeared in the Diablo Immortal subreddit(opens in new tab), while the iOS version languishes with an abysmal 0.6 score across nearly 1,700 user reviews on Metacritic(opens in new tab).

Diablo Immortal was originally conceived as a mobile game (in fact, a PC release wasn't confirmed until April 2022(opens in new tab)), and its F2P monetization is fairly typical for the platform. Among the items on offer are «crests,» which add gameplay modifiers and guarantee certain item drops; crafting materials, which impact combat and drops in various ways; and services, like Boon of Plenty and Prodigy's Path, which offer bonus rewards for various actions and task completions. There are plenty of cosmetic items as well, of course.

To be clear, none of this stuff is absolutely essential, and principal designer Joe Grubb told PCGamesN(opens in new tab) in May that microtransactions are for «optional purchases [that] are always a bonus, they never circumvent core gameplay.» Nonetheless, the extent of the microtransactional push has sparked a powerful blowback. Diablo Immortal isn't on Steam, so gamers are expressing their frustrations with reviews elsewhere, particularly Reddit and Metacritic. The iOS version of Diablo Immortal holds a very respectable aggregate score of 76 on the site, but user reviews are a very different story. (The PC version(opens in new tab) doesn't have any user reviews because it hasn't officially launched yet.)

«Gambling simulator with a Diablo skin.