The long-awaited Season 1 of Diablo 4, Season of the Malignant, promised a thrilling experience – at least, enough to give players a reason to start from scratch and keep them occupied for the next three months or so. Unfortunately, things aren’t going as well as planned for Blizzard Entertainment. Not to mention, amid the backlash following the release of the latest season and the pre-season patch, Blizzard is dealing with a more immediate and bigger problem. What is it? The glaring scarcity of Diablo 4’s premium currency.
Diablo 4 players are voicing their disappointment over the seeming pittance of Platinum rewarded in the battle pass. After doing some quick maffs, u/Caddy-Whompus found that the Battle Pass only gives 666 Platinum. It’s a cheeky figure, no doubt, but not as funny when you realize that the cheapest item in the in-game store costs 800 Platinum. This means that you’ll still need to shell out real-life cash to buy the cheapest cosmetic in Diablo 4 even after grinding through the entirety of the battle pass, which you have to pay for, by the way.
Naturally, this sort of greediness, which should make the three Prime Evils proud, has left the community feeling short-changed and in a state of outrage.
The Battlepass Gives 666 Platinum. The Cheapest Item in the Store is 800 Platinum.
byu/Caddy-Whompus indiablo4
While Blizzard hastily reversed a controversial change that necessitated reaching specific character levels to attain World Tier 3 and 4, the lack of premium currency remains an unresolved issue.
The community uproar is so significant that Blizzard might have to spend most of its time in the upcoming Campfire Chat addressing the concerns.
The criticism around the Platinum rewards is not isolated. Many players have pointed out the striking similarities between Diablo 4’s battle pass and that of Overwatch 2, which was also maligned for its premium currency allocation. Battle passes aren’t uncommon in live-service games, but Blizzard’s handling of the feature has raised many eyebrows.
In Diablo 4, grinding the battle pass doesn’t offer enough premium currency to unlock desirable character skins and in-game items, let alone buy the next season’s Battle Pass.
Compounding this problem is the game’s lack of transparency about the amount of Favor – this is what Diablo 4 is calling the battle pass XP – required for each tier.
In this season, ostensibly designed to entice players and facilitate impulse purchases, Blizzard’s strategy is producing the exact opposite of the results it’d like to see. The current Platinum allocation could deter first-time buyers, making them less likely to invest in the game.
This issue harks back to previous debates on mobile app stores’ strategies. The traditional approach entailed encouraging users to make a small first purchase, typically around 99¢. In contrast, Blizzard’s tactics have left players with a fraction of the currency needed to make a purchase, leading to stagnation.
You can compare this with Call of Duty, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and even Battlefield. Most if not all the live-service titles that are still successful offer enough premium currency in their battle pass to afford more – all they need to do is to grind for it.
What’s even more disconcerting is that, for a full-priced game like Diablo 4, the perceived manipulation and stinginess are off-putting. Many worry about the precedent this could set, especially once Blizzard starts adding uber-expensive, exclusive cosmetics into the game. These are standard for free-to-play games. And, while Diablo 4 is a premium title, its underhanded microtransaction sales tactics make you believe otherwise.
The future remains uncertain for Diablo 4’s battle pass, especially since many anticipate that the premium pass for the next season may cost more than 666 Platinum. The question is: will Blizzard address these grievances promptly and effectively, or will the discontent among players continue to simmer?
This miscalculation is a critical lesson for Blizzard: valuing player satisfaction is equally crucial as in-game monetization. For now, the ball is in Blizzard’s court to salvage the situation.
They must remember that while it’s their world, it’s the players who make it come alive.
