The launch of Diablo Immortal into open beta has not gone smoothly for Blizzard. While users say the game certainly feels like a more streamlined Diablo on mobile and PC, there is a key variable between it and its predecessors: microtransactions. Developed by Chinese mobile game developer NetEase, Diablo Immortal is free to play with MTX in mind. Ahead of launch, there was concern that Diablo Immortal would stray deeply into the murky waters of “pay to win,” or P2W. According to recent reports, it’s looking to be true. Min-maxing in Diablo Immortal can apparently come at a high cost, with some reports saying it can take $100,000 or more to max a character — and the fan backlash has already begun.
At the center of the issue are in-game items known as Legendary Gems. These are awarded to players as a way to level up their characters’ gear after reaching endgame. Legendary Gems have tiers (up to five stars), and the top-rated ones are doled out as chance drops from Legendary Crests — the game’s version of loot boxes, if you will, and the reason the game is blocked in Belgium and the Netherlands.
If you want top-tier gems, you need to pay for them. Regular, free-to-play users apparently can’t simply earn 5-star gems. As reported by GameRant, YouTuber Bellular News calculated Diablo Immortal asks up to $110,000 for players to fully max a character. And it might even be worse than thought. YouTuber and content creator Shroud, via TweakTown, calculated that it could cost even more: up to $500,000. There is a wide gulf between the two calculations, likely due to the complicated nature of Diablo Immortal‘s MTX system. Either way, the game seems to favor those with deep pockets.
Gold won’t cover it
But ahead of those weekend reports, Diablo Immortal was already facing some backlash. Since June 3, users have been review bombing the game on aggregator site Metacritic. Most cite the MTX and “p2w” aspects of Diablo Immortal. Others say it’s the next in a recent line of disappointing Blizzard games, with mentions of Diablo 3 and Warcraft III: Reforged included in the reviews. Currently, it’s sitting at a user score of 0.7. The game places only just above Reforged, which is at 0.6. I doubt those reports are going to help the game’s popularity much.
