
“They undermine public and regulatory trust in not just the company, but in the industry as a whole.”ĭiablo Immortal doesn’t just monetize in-game boosters and cosmetics, it also sells players “legendary crests” that give them a laughably bad chance of lucking onto the game’s most valuable resource: legendary gems that allow players to upgrade their character’s equipment. And games like Diablo Immortal build neither,” he said. “They are hurting their case for self-regulation because it requires not just a degree of restraint on the industry itself, but trust from the public and from potential regulators. By not doing anything to hear out the criticism lobbed at it by disgruntled players in the hopes of capitalizing on the flood of profits on whales and early adopters, Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling says Blizzard may be doing more harm than good to the industry. In the U.S., the video game industry has so far succeeded in arguing that it can regulate itself, but experts Waypoint has talked to say games like Diablo Immortal could change that. But the way it’s monetizing its player base is so predatory, the game has been banned in some European countries which recently introduced regulations on loot boxes, and other monetization schemes similar to Diablo Immortal. According to Kotaku, initial estimates that maxing out a single character could cost as much as $100,000 are very low-the actual amount can run upwards of half a million.ĭiablo Immortal isn’t a bad game it’s bursting with beautiful graphics, satisfying sound effects, and a tight gameplay loop Blizzard is known for. Even players who didn’t spend thousands on the game still say they ended up dropping over $600 between cosmetics and useful items to make their character more powerful. Other users have reported having spent $50,000 in a day.


Everyone, delete your accounts,” he said. Twitch streamer Quin69 made headlines after he blew NZ$25,000 (roughly $15,000) trying to get a 5-star legendary gem in Diablo Immortal-only to delete his character days later. Just weeks after its launch, Diablo Immortal is getting slammed over how much money early adopters have lost to the game’s widely hated “pay-to-win” model, where players are encouraged to spend money on more powerful items.
