Summary
A month after its release,Diablo 4’s post-launch content stream seems to have failed to excite Blizzard’s playerbase. The Season of the Malignant not only saw Blizzard nerf almost every aspect of the game, but the actual content feels pretty lackluster. It is not a strong start toDiablo 4’s seasonal model, but hopefully the studio’s future plans can fix that.
Diablo 4’s seasons are only a small part of Blizzard’s post-launch content plans. While these seasons will form the backbone of the game’s future, the studio will also release various expansion packs over the next couple of years. These packs should expandDiablo 4in exciting new ways, but that remains to be seen. After the mediocre post-launch content ofDiablo 3and a mediocre first season forDiablo 4, Blizzard will have to do everything it can to make fans actually care about the game’s future.
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Diablo 4’s Post-Launch Content Needs to Be Stronger Than Diablo 3’s
While Blizzard has yet torevealDiablo 4’s first expansion pack, it likely looms on the horizon. These expansion packs tend to introduce game-changing features, expand the story in interesting ways, and may even include a new class or two. Every singleDiablogame has gotten this treatment, butDiablo 4’s predecessor may not have handled these packs the best.
Diablo 3was released in 2012 to strong reviews and was a commercial success for the studio, but it took until 2014 for the game’s first expansion to hit store shelves.Diablo 3: Reaper of Soulsadded a brand-new campaign, the new Crusader class, and introduced a slew of changes to the core gameplay. It also saw the introduction of the seasonal model thatDiablo 4has adopted and went a long way in redefining one of the more controversial entries of the series. It felt like the studio had listened, but the post-launch content seemed to grind to a halt after its release.
WhileDiablo 3saw multiple seasons that gave players new unique rewards, the game’s second DLC pack would not release until 2017. This DLC pack was called the Rise of the Necromancer and all it did was introduce the Necromancer class to the game. There was no new story, nothing about the pack was particularly game-changing, and it was not exactly what fans were hoping for after three years of nothing.
Diablo 3: Rise of the Necromancermarked the end ofDiablo 3’s post-launch DLC packsas the studio began to focus onDiablo 4instead. This made the entire content stream feel very disappointing as players only really got one major expansion followed by a $15 class with multiple years between each. It felt like a strange way to keep the ARPG alive, and hopefully Blizzard realizes this.
Blizzard may not have revealedDiablo 4’s first expansion yet, but it has said that it is currentlyworking on two expansions for the game. These expansions cannot be small, and they need to release a lot closer to each other. Players need a reason to keep coming back for more content, and telling brand-new stories with new classes is one of the best ways to do that. If the studio continues to make lackluster seasons withDiablo 3’s DLC model then players may just drop the game altogether.
Diablo 4is one of the best entries in the series to date, and its post-launch content needs to reflect that.The Season of the Malignanthas not started that off on the right foot, but the expansion packs could redeem it. As long as Blizzard can ensure that these DLC packs are worth the price of admission,Diablo 4could live on for years to come.
Diablo 4is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X
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