Diablo 4 developers swear Season Pass won't feature P2W elements, fans react to reveal

Diablo 4, the next major entry in the classic action RPG franchise, is seeing a bit of contention with its latest news. In a recent quarterly update, the developers spoke about the game and promised that the game would feature no pay-to-win/pay-for-power mechanics. Despite being a retail-priced game, it will still feature a cosmetics shop and a series of Season Passes.

Although the developers stated that the game will not feature any pay-for-power items in the Season Pass, many are still frustrated as to why the game has additional monetization at all.

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Diablo 4’s developers reveal monetization methods - Season Pass and cosmetics shop

Kegan Clark, Director of Product for Diablo 4, made Blizzard's stance on the game quite clear in this update. Despite being a retail game, it is going to have other monetization systems that offer players more cosmetic options, without any pay-to-win mechanics.

“As we’ve discussed previously, Diablo IV will be a full-price game with a Cosmetics Shop and Season Pass—none of which provide any pay-for-power options. Our goal in designing our in-game purchases is that we want to create beautiful things which add value to players’ experience of the game.”

After the debacle that was Diablo Immortal, many fans were frustrated and leery, despite Blizzard not actively heading the development of that game. According to Diablo 4's developers, the game will have several Season Passes a year, each with a Free/Premium track.

The developers also stated that there won’t be any way to unlock Season Boosts quickly through purchases, and no way to unlock boosts at a faster pace by spending money. These boosts can help by accelerating XP earned, but do not make players more powerful.

They also stated that the free rewards also have gameplay-affecting elements to make leveling a fresh character easier, and they aren’t exclusive to the Premium Season Pass. These Season Passes will add new quests and challenges to the game, but not everyone’s thrilled about the reveal.

While not all fans are upset, there have been quite a few reactions on social media that feel that Blizzard has learned nothing from Diablo 3’s real-money auction hall or Diablo Immortal’s P2W mechanics.

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Fans react to Diablo 4’s monetization systems

Some have made their feelings incredibly clear after the reveal. Adding seasonal passes and cosmetic purchases to a retail game is not a popular decision. Some simply dislike seeing Season Passes in all games, though.

Others think that the developers have learned nothing from the backlash that Diablo Immortal faced upon launch.

Twitch streamer Asmongold was curious about the announcements as well, particularly the possibility of selling the Season Pass rewards. He was grateful to hear that they could not, in any way, be sold or traded.

On the other side of the coin, Quin69 was furious at the decisions Blizzard had been making, openly screaming about the monetization strategies that the company is rolling out for their upcoming game.

While the company has repeatedly stated that they are not making the game pay-to-win, it’s clear that not everyone is thrilled about the decision. There are a number of fears about the game thanks to this reveal, but others do hope that game doesn’t turn into another Diablo Immortal.