After some mystery regarding future content, Diablo 4 annual expansions were recently confirmed by Blizzard. As a result, players have now claimed that D4 is nothing more than a cash grab.
There was good news for Diablo 4 fans recently with the Mother’s Blessing Weekend. Over the course of a few days, players received an additional 25% XP and Gold compared to usual. It went down very well with the community hoping it would become a more regular feature moving forward.
However, this positive weekend has been set back by the recent expansion news. In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, Diablo General Manager Rod Fergusson confirmed that annual expansions are on the way. The rumored $40-60 price tag for each content add-on, as well as seasonal Battle Passes, has left a sour taste in the mouth of the player base.
Diablo 4 can “thank games like Destiny for this”
Reddit user Fearlessmojo had this to say on the Diablo 4 subreddit: “The game hasn’t even been out one year and they are already talking about paid YEARLY expansion? There are so many things to still fix and they are out here talking about a fucking expansion less than a year into the game’s lifespan and the game is already a live service game with a battle pass (15$)?”
It’s been no secret that fans are unhappy with various aspects of the game – especially when it comes to the “tedious grind.”
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However, having annual expansions and Battle Passes in tandem – while rival games such as Baldur’s Gate 3 has nothing in this regard – is not going down well. “It’s a 70 dollar game with in game transactions and cosmetics. Jesus,” exclaimed one user and another person theorized: “You can thank games like Destiny for this. Bungie showed yearly expansions and season passes and MTX will sell no matter how much people complain.”
Even hardened fans are finding it difficult to support the game anymore: “It sucks people even defend Diablo 4. I’m a lifelong Diablo fan but 4 is an embarrassment. It’s a cash grab that’s hardly different than Immortal and it’s horrifically boring after the campaign. It really sucks too because 1-50 and the story were a lot of fun, after that nothing but denied addiction keeps someone going.”
Previous Diablo games had a paid expansion that added another Act and character classes, but as Diablo 4 is a much bigger project, Blizzard’s aims to create an expansion every year will likely split fan opinion.
With another few years projected in terms of Diablo 4’s longevity, it will be interesting to see if Blizzard continues ahead with this model. We expect the Battle Pass to continue with Diablo 4 Season 2 though.
