Blizzard has announced that the next Diablo 4 Developer Update Stream will be on May 2 at 11 a.m. PDT and will discuss the Season 4 launch, PTR learnings, and more.
Is Diablo 4 Season 4 Really So Great It Should Be Considered Diablo 5? Blizzard Has Its Say
10.04.2024 - 14:33 / ign.com / Rod Fergusson
When Diablo 3 got its pre-Reaper of Souls expansion patch dubbed 'loot 2.0' in 2014, it was credited with turning Blizzard’s action role-playing game around. Critics and players called loot 2.0 a big improvement on Diablo 3, with changes that sparked renewed interest from a community that had dropped off following the base game’s 2012 release. Now, 10 years later, Blizzard is aiming to repeat the trick with Diablo 4 Season 4.
For the first time, Blizzard launched a Public Test Realm (PTR) that let players get stuck into the sweeping changes to itemisation Season 4 will bring when it launches on May 14. Hardcore Diablo 4 fans who have stuck with the game despite its many ups and downs since last summer have positive things to say about Season 4, now the PTR has ended. You’ll see comments like, ‘Diablo 4 is good now’, ‘Season 4 is what Diablo 4 should have been at launch’, and ‘the Diablo 4 beta is over, Season 4 is 1.0.’ For Blizzard, though, the hope is Season 4 reinvigorates Diablo 4, brings back lapsed players, and maybe even attracts new players who might have found the game intimidating up to this point.
All this comes after the launch of Diablo 4 on Game Pass — the first Blizzard game to do so following Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year. And it comes ahead of the hotly anticipated launch of Diablo 4’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, later in 2024. In short, these are busy times for Diablo 4 and for its development team. With all this in mind, IGN sat down with Diablo boss Rod Fergusson and art director John Mueller to find out more about Season 4, their thoughts on datamining and secrets, and how Game Pass has affected the player base.
Diablo 4 is approaching its first year after launch. How would you assess how it’s gone so far?
Rod Fergusson: It’s been going well. What I love about having a game that’s a live service is you’re able to iterate and learn. It’s not like one thing that just goes out and you’re living with that. I hope the players are seeing that with every season we’re working to make the game better, to make it more engaging, to offer more things to do.
What we’re doing now with the PTR we did for Season 4 is a representation of that listening to our players. It was an opportunity to get feedback before the season came out, as opposed to hearing the feedback during the season and adjusting later. That just ended yesterday to a lot of really great positive sentiment. It’s a pretty fundamental change. Season 4 represents a complete rework about how our loot works, and what we call itemisation. The notion around how loot actually functions in the game has fundamentally changed, starting with Season 4 on May 14. Being able to get it out in front of
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23.04.2024 / 19:55
Blizzard Calls for Community Questions on Itemization - Diablo 4 Season 4
Blizzard has asked the Diablo 4 community to provide questions regarding Season 4's upcoming itemization and Helltide changes, which will be answered in a developer video! From April 2 to April 9, the Diablo development team opened up its first Public Test Realm for players to provide feedback on massive gameplay changes to itemization and systems like Helltide. State of the Classes in Diablo 4: A PTR Deep Dive Players looking to leave questions should respond to the official Diablo account's post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Global Community Development Director Adam Fletcher also made clear that the video will be separate from the upcoming developer livestream, which will focus on feedback regarding the latest PTR cycle: We're interested as well — what would be your burning questions regarding itemization in Helltide, looking at the upcoming changes with Season 4? Let us know in the comments!
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18.04.2024 / 19:19
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17.04.2024 / 23:25
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13.04.2024 / 01:57
Diablo 3 Season 31 is Now Live!
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12.04.2024 / 20:25
Weapon Implicit Affixes to be Adjusted in Season 4 - Diablo 4
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wowhead.com
11.04.2024 / 20:17
Filter Stash by Item Power in Season 4 - Diablo 4
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