Summary
Diablo 4went from the poster child of the resurgence of action RPGs in modern times to a problematic rendition of what is wrong with (and perceived as such) live-service games and their post-launch content. One of the mainissues withDiablo 4after an initially successful launch was that its seasonal model not only didn’t succeed in winning players back with Season of the Malignant, but Blizzard didn’t make some of the most necessary changes to the game and double down on this by nerfing most classes into the ground. Season 2 is much more promising, but the game is far from being out of the woods, especially as it reiterates an annoying trend for PC titles and takes it to the next level.
Diablo 4’s Season of Bloodneeds to be a complete win for Blizzard if the game is to remain relevant for years to come, and a good step in this direction is transparency. While it’s hard for developers to be transparent about their plans in a landscape where threats of all kinds are made by self-proclaimed fans, talking about plans for the game on Blizzard’s part is necessary to regain the community’s trust. However, in an unexpected move,Diablo 4is now coming to another platform and players have to buy it again to play it.
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Why Diablo 4 Launching on Steam Can be a Controversial Choice
WhenDiablo 4first launched, it was expected that it would come to PC in the form of the usual Battle.net launcher that’s used for all Blizzard games, and so it did. Some players are not fond of Battle.net because it’s an extra step at best and an annoying one at worst. This is because many games already have their own separate launcher, whereas it’s common for gamers to enjoy having every title they play on the same platform or overall launcher, like Steam or Epic Games, so that the process is smoother.
For example,Baldur’s Gate 3continued this PC trendby having its own launcher, which some players were not fond of, despite the title launching to incredible success.Diablo 4not only has its own launcher in the form of Battle.net, but now, it is coming to Steam alongside its Season of Blood release on October 17. It’s not uncommon for games to launch on one platform and come to other ones later on, with players being required to purchase the game from scratch, but this is often communicated in advance.
In this case, Blizzard didn’t mention its plans toreleaseDiablo 4on Steamat a later date, and some players are feeling blindsided because they most likely bought the game on Battle.net and now they can’t play it on Steam without paying its price again. For a game that managed to upset its fan-base over and over again with poor decisions and few improvements over the course of its first season,Diablo 4should have gone the extra mile to ensure its fans were happy to return to the game ahead of its next installment.
Given thatDiablo 4’s Season 2 needs a plan Bin case things don’t go quite as expected, as they did with Season of the Malignant, a Steam launch should have either been in the cards from the get-go (with players informed about it) or it should have waited. This move may very well give Blizzard more players for its upcoming release, but it may also end up backfiring as yet another controversy if Season of Blood doesn’t live up to its expectations. And now, not only doesDiablo 4have its own launcher, but it came to Steam at additional costs for those who owned the game already, and it will still rely on Battle.net for it to work, essentially requiring two launchers for double the price.
Diablo 4is available now for the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
