With the last quarterly report from August 2022, Blizzard specifically announced how the action role-playing game Diablo 4 should be monetized and supported after release – and thus unleashed hell on earth. In the comments on iGamesNews.de there are lively discussions about the season model, the in-game shop and Pay2Win concerns. In a poll we wanted to know what you think of all this. Your opinion was pretty clear: not even that much.
All information about monetization, the Season Pass and the shop can be found in our overview:
Diablo 4
Blizzard talks Seasons, Shop and Pay2Win concerns
Lawsuit against Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard is currently facing a lawsuit alleging sexism and unequal treatment of female employees. If the grievances play a role in your purchase decision, we have summarized all the information on the sexism lawsuit in a detailed article for you. You can read our attitude and consequences to the processes in a leading article on the Blizzard scandal by GameStar editor-in-chief Heiko Klinge.
Your opinion on the shop and the Season Pass
Here you can see the results of our survey at a glance (as of September 2nd, 2022):
Only 9 percent of 4,656 participants say they think Diablo 4’s monetization model and seasons are fair. 6 percent don’t care at all. The vast majority has a massive problem with Blizzard’s announcements. 37 percent voted that they think the season pass and the shop are overkill. 49 percent have concerns that it won’t just stay with the cosmetic items, but that we’ll have to deal with the Pay2Win topic again after the release.
By the way: Blizzard repeatedly emphasizes that there should be no microtransactions for playful advantages in Diablo 4. Diablo Immortal has already proven that the perception of Pay2Win depends very much on the perspective.
Note on the survey
In the comments to our survey, criticism was expressed that the answers did not deal with the topic in a differentiated enough way. We’ll take your feedback and look for more suitable answers in the next survey. Nevertheless, we find your opinion very meaningful and wanted to take it up in an evaluation.
»A real-money shop does not belong in a full-price title«
In your comments on the survey, anger and disappointment can be read above all. The anticipation of Blizzard’s new action role-playing game is clouded by the shop and the associated microtransactions. GameStar user Cataton writes:
I don’t think much of in-game shops for a full-price game. And anyone who invests money is to blame for the fact that our hobby has become just a money printing machine for the big publishers.
User kidow shares this opinion:
MTX don’t belong in a full-price game, period. It’s bad enough that this has now been softened to such an extent that many people no longer have anything against paid cosmetic items. If you want to make money from the game through MTX then you should do it F2P like P ath of Exile.
But it’s not just the previously announced monetization model that has you worried. You haven’t forgotten the big debate about Diablo Immortal and Pay2Win allegations and you fear that similar real-money purchase options could sneak into the new offshoot of the cult series. Raphael writes:
After the Immortal Cashgrab, you can see where it’s going. Statement “There is no equipment to buy”, only to actually only drop legendary gems via real money portals and say with a grin “I only said equipment. Gems are not equipment”… In general, I find it absurd how become normal microtransactions in a FULL PRICE game.
Is Blizzard straying too far from its target audience?
With all the criticism about the decisions that Blizzard has been making for its games lately, there is always a touch of nostalgia and memories of the ARPG series’ heyday. For user NightFright, the new features clearly mean: »The old Diablo is dead«, as he comments under our info article.
And other users can’t quite understand how the usual great gaming experience of the Diablo title should fit together with an in-game shop – and for which target group Blizzard is developing its new game. CanSome writes something like:
In principle, I have nothing against in-game shops, or season passes or the like. However, I have the feeling that many companies like Blizzard will no longer create a game and add a shop/pass, but rather build a shop/pass and build gameplay around it. Then the game usually just becomes modest, see DI and thousands of other examples. All in all, my expectations for D4 are limited anyway, although Blizzard really did a great job with D2R. But I guess I’m just not part of Blizzard’s target audience anymore when I look at the last few releases.
By the way, classic DLCs and addons would bother you much less, as GameStar user Arcane explains:
Financing via e.g. B. Skins is not carried out because it is absolutely necessary to make a full-price single-player title profitable, but to operate (disproportionate) profit maximization at the expense of the customer. Of course there is another way. There are examples of this everywhere! There are 10,000+ games that do not require in-game sales to be commercially successful. And also titles with an online multiplayer component, such as the TOTAL WAR series (along with many other titles) have been proving for several decades that traditional financing via the add-on model is economically successful.
Between all the criticism and worries about future development, there are also a few voices that are looking forward to Diablo 4 and are not so critical of the whole thing. Kollabo writes something like:
I like what they announced. What did you expect? Pay full price once and expect updates and content for free for the next 10 years? People have to be paid for it.
It’s also not a game you just play through once. If they stick to that, that there’s something new to do every season, it could be pretty interesting. Oh, and no one is forcing you to buy anything in the shop.
User Pantheos also sees no danger to his personal gaming experience in the shop and Season Pass:
I’ll take it pragmatically. I’m sure I won’t be slogging through thousands of Mephisto runs online like I used to be to look for my loot. I’ll just play through it in peace, then a few runs through end bosses from time to time and that’s it. In the meantime I have neither the time nor the desire to go into an endless spiral. Online shop, skins etc. pp. are not tackled by me as a matter of principle.
Even the discussions about Diablo Immortal have cost Blizzard trust. In the podcast, Micha discusses with Maurice and Kalle Koschinsky how this affects Diablo 4:
link to Podcast Content
Of course we are still looking forward to your opinion! Let us know what you think of the new announcements – and what you’re hoping for from Diablo 4 in the comments!
