We knew it was coming. When Blizzard announced a mobile spin-off to the Diablo series back at BlizzCon 2018, the fan backlash was almost immediately fired toward the game developers. Mobile games often come with a stigma of excessive monetisation and it seems that Diablo Immortal is no different. The game is one giant pay-to-win app painted with a cool-looking Diablo coat of paint.
Sure, this sort of approach keeps the game going. You’ll probably get more time and content out of the game than any previous entry in the series but that doesn’t mean the model is worth investing your time into. Sadly, those of you who want to play Diablo Immortal should be ready to fork out money because it can be a hella expensive game. According to a new YouTube video by Bellular News, the mobile game can cost you millions of rands due to its clever min-max system that Blizzard has set up specifically to drain your bank account.
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The biggest issue surrounding Diablo Immortal’s in-game purchases is related to the game’s Legendary Gems. Once you reach the level cap in the game, players rely on these Legendary Gems to progress through the game’s progression system which spans three pillars of stats. Think of the system like Paragon Levels in Diablo III. These progression stats help you nudge up ever so slightly as you repeat the same tedious end-game content.
The difference in Diablo Immortal is that free to play players, those who aren’t looking to spend any real money on the game, cannot earn top-tier Legendary Gems. That is because these gems are locked behind the game’s in-game purchases.
To make matters even worse, Legendary Gems aren’t even a guaranteed drop from in-game purchases meaning you can buy packs that might have them but you aren’t always going to get them. Each Legendary Chest, which might contain Legendary Gems only has a chance of dropping them.
The video goes on to explain that Diablo Immortal could take a free player at least ten years of grinding in order to fully max their character. This is calculated by the amount of time a player would invest into grinding Diablo Immortal to max level instead of paying for the items to max your character out in the first place.
The video explains Diablo Immortal as “playing the game for the low chance of gems or paying for the higher chance of gems”. Sadly, the entire game model has been structured around purchasing items in order to get stronger.
There’s a lot to unpack in how Blizzard hard structured the game to make money. If you have a chance, I recommend watching this breakdown below. If you’re on the fence about the game, also watch his video to be aware of what you’re getting yourself into.
Source: YouTube