As Diablo 3’s Patch 2.2.0 gets announced, evidence appears that Blizzard may be planning to add microtransactions to the game.

The latest patch mainly adds a large number of new Legendary armor sets and powers. These include Unhallowed Essence, Wrath of the Wastes, and Delsere’s Magnum Opus. The new Legendary powers come in gem, armor and ring form, and some older sets, such as Zunimassa’s Haunt, and Raiment of a Thousand Storms, will be rebalanced.

There will also be a new bounty type; Exploration. These 20 bounties will be added to acts 2, 4, and 5, and will have you exploring certain areas with the goal of finding, rescuing, or killing people.

This same patch may also bring microtransactions to the game. A new currency called Platinum is being added in, as well as cosmetic items and timed experience boosts.

Blizzard initially shared this explanation with the announcement:

We recognize that many players have expressed an interest in microtransactions being added to Diablo III. While we may explore this model in some regions, we have no immediate plans to implement such purchases anytime soon for the Americas region.

They also shared this later statement to PCGamer:

There are a lot of different factors that go into decisions like this, including various regional or local market considerations. We know that some of these features would be ones that players in several regions might enjoy, but we don’t currently have plans to support these in North America, and we don’t have any other region-specific details to share at this time.