Diablo IV, the fourth main installment of the Diablo series, has been in the works since 2019, according to what Blizzard Entertainment presented at BlizzCon 2019 in November. The new action role-playing game is set for release in 2023 for PC and consoles.
Since Diablo IV’s official announcement, Blizzard has been dropping regular updates to the fan base, including gameplay and the microtransaction system that will be implemented. The RPG genre is known for often offering shortcuts in exchange for real money for those who do not feel like grinding the game to level up their character, which left Diablo fans wondering if Diablo IV will be a pay-to-win game.
The developers of Diablo IV have answered that question in the third quarterly update of Diablo IV in 2022.
Will Diablo IV be pay to win?
Diablo IV will not be pay-to-win, according to the game’s director of product Kegan Clark. Blizzard is focusing on creating “beautiful things,” meaning mere cosmetics, that will add value to the overall playing experience.
“As we’ve discussed previously, Diablo IV will be a full-price game with a Cosmetics Shop and Season Pass—none of which provide any pay-for-power options,” Clark said. “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.”
The developers of Diablo IV have ambitious plans for the game’s seasons and will have a “large development team” dedicated to it after the launch. Blizzard wants the seasons to be enjoyed by every player, independently of whether they bought items from the shop or not.
“When a new season begins, all the characters from the prior season are moved to the Eternal Realm, where you can keep playing, leveling up, and collecting loot,” Diablo IV‘s game director Joe Shely said. “To play in the new season, you’ll create a fresh character and experience the new seasonal features and content while leveling up alongside other players. This, along with capping paragon points in Diablo IV, ensures that your effort and skill—measured by both dexterity and theorycrafting —determine how powerful your character becomes. It also allows players who missed the last season to participate. This season design requires that all sources of character power come from playing the game, so you will not be able to pay for power in Diablo IV.”
At the moment, there is no release date for Diablo IV. All we know is that Blizzard will launch it sometime in 2023.
