Microtransactions in Diablo Immortal: How much does it cost to fully gear up in the game?

Diablo Immortal might have created an early positive impression with its core gameplay offering. However, its reputation seems to be steadily declining over its monetization policy.

Many had been skeptical about Blizzard and what route the developers would follow with the free-to-play release. As expected, the results haven't been bright, with players required to spend a massive amount to max out their characters.

The problem of Diablo Immortal starts with legendary gems and how they're distributed. The legendary gems differ in star ratings, and the higher the stars on a gem, the better it is. These gems are a must for any player to improve their characters for the endgame.

However, their distribution pattern can cost some serious money if a player wants to max out their character as things stand. Moreover, the current distribution makes it nearly impossible for free-to-play players to do the same.

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Diablo Immortal is pay-to-win for a flawed model of legendary gems

Legendary gems become important in Diablo Immortal as soon as players approach the endgame. These gems slot into the players' armor and add different attributes and abilities. The best ones are the 5-star gems that provide the biggest benefits.

Bellular News recently shared a YouTube video investigating just how much players would need to spend if they were to max out their characters. By their calculation, it comes to a whopping $110,000 in the current iteration of the title. While the amount seems quite staggering, it's easy to understand why it could cost so much.

The entire process of getting legendary gems is one big gacha. Rare crests, which are available more often, give 2-star gems at best. While the legendary crests can hand out 5-star gems, they're locked behind a gacha. A player will receive a legendary gem from legendary crests, but there's no guarantee it will be one of the better ones.

A pity system guarantees Diablo Immortal players a 5-star legendary gem on the 50th try. While 50 attempts might not cost much in certain gacha games, that's not the case with Diablo Immortal. Spending $100 gets a player 45 tries, which means that getting a guaranteed 5-star legendary gem will cost more than $100, unless they are lucky.

Another major issue that results in higher costs is the limited supply of legendary crests. Players can get a few from the Empowered Pass, which again costs real-life money. If a player was to get a serious amount ot legendary gems, buying legendary crests with real-life money seems to be the only sustainable solution.

The video also mentioned how it would be nearly impossible for free-to-play Diablo Immortal players to max out their characters, as it will take nearly 10 years for such players to achieve the feat. This is a real shame because many have loved the core gameplay loop.

One could have understood what was to come, given that Diablo Immortal wasn't released in Belgium and the Netherlands. Both European countries are known for their strong stance against loot boxes.

As for the game, the major difference maker is locked behind the same system for the game, which could be why the countries mentioned above didn't allow the game to be released.

$110,000 might be more than what a player will require to spend since there's a factor of luck. But it's safe to say that the amount won't be minimal in any case, and whatever it turns out to be will be significant.

To put it into context, $110,000 can get over 1,500 fully-priced AAA games. While everybody did expect some form of microtransaction in Diablo, the sheer intensity has surprised many.