Diablo 4 offers a number of ways to keep putting money into the game after purchase. However, monetization is still one of the big question marks. Above all, players fear that Pay2Win could be hiding here. Others believe that all additional costs in Diablo 4 will be completely optional. The topic is highly charged and causes controversy.
This is how Diablo 4 monetization looks like:
The users argue about this: In a heavily discussed thread on Reddit, a user takes a position on Blizzard and says: not all monetization is bad. Just because a company wants to make money with their product doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Diablo 4 gets new content over the years that somehow has to be paid for. The shop and the Battle Pass are completely optional, he would not buy any of them himself. For 70 dollars or euros he experiences everything that Diablo 4 has to offer and that is already over 100 hours of playtime.
Compared to Pay2Win content or “forced payment”, for example for a new box, this path is the least toxic. Other players agree, even on the price. If you adjust the price of Diablo 1 for inflation, you would also get 70 euros today.
But Diablo 4 offers much more content. The top comment reads: “I’d rather have the content, even if it includes a shop, than a game with no significant updates.”
In our overview you will find all information about Diablo 4. With the latest trailer, Blizzard caused enthusiasm again:
Diablo 4: The official story trailer for the release
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“You don’t finance Diablo 4, you finance Bobby Kotick’s bonus”
On the other hand, there is user SoggyRamyun, who explains that monetization itself is not the problem, but where the money goes. The developers see little of this, which has already been seen from previous reports.
Blizzard cut bonus payments to employees by 42%. Just two years earlier, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick received a $200 million bonus payment. SoggyRamyun complains:
You are not paying to support the game. You pay to fund Bobby Kotick’s year-end bonus. […]
Passive income is necessary for Diablo 4 post-launch support, but not every single form of monetization is necessary. There was no need to raise the price to $70 […] and there was no need to design the Battle Pass in such a way that players cannot fully replay it. This game will print money with the shop alone […]
A number of users agree. The salary of the developers is 95% already fixed, the bonuses are “miserable”. Others ask why there are still people who can still defend companies here.
Blizzard in particular has traditionally had many fans who would like to be loyal to the company or would like to be loyal. With Diablo 4, those fans see another chance for Blizzard to show they’re still worth that allegiance.
How exactly the shop will be in the end, we will probably only find out in June. But there are at least bad examples:
One of the best alternatives to Diablo 4 on Steam shows exactly how the shop shouldn’t be – backtracking