Diablo Immortal’s first update brings a new season and battle pass, but players aren’t impressed

Season two kicks off tomorrow, but there’s not a lot to see.

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Blizzard has released details on the firstpost-launch updateforDiablo Immortal, the free-to-play dungeon romp that launched into open beta on PC on June 2. The update will kick off a new season with three new battle passes, add a new raid boss and weekend event, and make numerous balance changes and bug fixes.

The second season of Diablo Immortal will include a free 40-rank battle pass, plus two paid versions: The Empowered battle pass, which adds a premium reward track to the free stuff plus two Bloodsworn cosmetics, and the Collector’s Empowered pass, which along with the previous also includes a Bloodsworn Avatar Frame, Bloodsworn Portal cosmetic, and an immediate ten-rank boost. The pass will be available until August 4, and assuming pricing doesn’t change from season one, the Empowered pass will cost $5 while the Collector’s Empowered will go for $15.

Vitaath the Shivering Death is the new raid boss, a demon who “stalks her prey cloaked in frozen wind and gives chase on wings of ice.” If you’re interested, you can pursue Vitaath and bring an end to her “ice age of terror” at Rayek’s Helliquary in Westmarch. You can also take part in a new Hungering Moon weekend event, which will run from July 15-18, beginning and ending at 3 am (server time) each day. Earn Moonslivers, trade them for Blessings, and after earning seven Blessing you’ll be able to claim a random reward, and perhaps even the favor of the moon itself.

“This patch is just a start,” Blizzard wrote. “We’ve been collecting suggestions and feedback for the game since launch and look forward to sharing more updates in future patches.” The development team also teased a new “Class Change” option coming in the next update, which will be out later this month.

One thing the update studiously avoids is any mention at all of the controversy surrounding Diablo Immortal’saggressive monetization, which has sparked abrutal backlashfrom players. It’s also very light on new content. All told, the reaction from players on Reddit and the Blizzard forums is not what you’d call wildly enthusiastic.

“I don’t think anyone who has been unhappy with the content over the last month will see this as a reason to try it again,” redditorLucaviouswrote “Even with class changes coming it’s not anything crazy or exciting.”

Interestingly, gacha fans don’t seem all that terribly taken by the update either.

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“Almost all decent F2P/gacha games have new content whether it’s new story/missions or just a few resource grinds,“BlueLantern84wrote. “There’ll normally be a few a month.

“This, with the new battle pass, gives a SINGLE weekend of what sounds a bare minimum event. No guaranteed rewards, nothing teased. Just… a weekend of a gather-grind … I know people have bigger fish to fry with this game, but beyond the monetization, they don’t even have the seasonal model down close to adequate.”

Z3M0Gadded, “This game is not holding up to anything close to top-tier mobile gaming content standards. And their first ‘event’ doesn’t even make me desire to reinstall the game? (I have very limited space on my phone) That’s not a good sign at all.”

Despite the complaints, it’s clear that not everyone is unhappy with the game as it stands. While PC players eager for a premium Diablo game are down on it, Diablo Immortal holds a 4.5/5 ranking on theApp Storeand 3.7/5 onGoogle Play—a higher ranking than Hearthstone. It’s also reportedly raking in quite a lot of money: An estimated $49 million in its first month of release, according tomobilegamer.biz.

And more content is on the way: Diablo franchise general manager Rod Fergusson said on Twitter that this update is focused mainly on the battle pass and small fixes—a second update coming later this month “will be our first major content update.”

Also, worth noting - there will be two Diablo Immortal updates in July. This first one will be mainly a Battle Pass update that also includes some small changes and bug fixes, the second update scheduled for later in July will be our first major content update. #DiabloImmortalJuly 6, 2022

The full patch notes are below:

Balance Changes

Wizard

Monk

Bug Fixes

Gameplay

Cycle of Strife

Battlegrounds

NPC

UI

Visual

Server

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill.Lotsof Henry Cavill.

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