Ever since the announcement that Blizzard was working on a mobile adaptation of theDiablofranchise, many fans wanted to know more about the project because of the long wait betweenDiablo 3andDiablo 4. This title isDiablo Immortal, and it was recently released in early access after having been years in the making, which allowed most of those initially hyped fans to have informed opinions about whether they would like it or not based on gameplay, graphics, and monetization. Although Blizzard’s approach tomonetization forDiablo Immortalwas clearly inclined to go the microtransactions route, what wasn’t clear enough was the extent of this choice.
In the few days thatDiablo Immortalhas been available to play, many players became more and more aware of the deep monetization issues that affect the game’s internal economy and the individuals who engage with it. The main problem is the lack of endgame advancements for one’s characters, which translates into months and months of grinding before actually having any chance at decent gear, whereas players can choose to spend impressive amounts of money to possibly forego the issue. The dispute is twofold, as it implies that the pay-to-win model is the main endgame goal, but it also means that even by spending money, one is not guaranteed anything good to drop.
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Diablo Immortalhas been banned from countries like The Netherlands and Belgium because of themonetization choicesthat make it equivalent to loot boxes, where the loot one gets is not directly purchased and selected, but rather is completely random in nature. Similarly,Diablofans on Reddit are now asking forDiablo Immortalto be banned from allDiablo-related Subreddits in order to send a clear message to Blizzard, while also protecting newcomers from predatory monetization practices.
A Redditor called Al3xqcs shared a post two days ago proposing the idea of banningDiablo Immortal, now dubbed “Diablo Immoral” by the community, from the Subreddit. The post gained a lot of traction and is now sitting at over 20K upvotes and several awards, with many players agreeing that this would be a good idea to preventDiablo Immortalfrom gaining too much reach within the community as it could easily absorb individuals with gambling issues.
For pretty much the same reasons,Diablo Immortalis being review bombedacross many sites, with infuriated players trying to raise awareness on the monetization issues. Others are also doing this in order to uplift the voices of those who are afraid thatDiablo 4might incur the same economy-related problems both internally and externally, which would ultimately ruin the franchise in the eyes of veteran players.Diablo 3also set a precedent in these regards with the real-money auction house, hence why the concern thatDiablo Immortalis but a stepping stone.
Diablo Immortalis out now for iOS and Android devices with a PC version in early access.
