Phone Havers Worldwide Are Finding Out Diablo: Immortal Can Get Pretty Expensive
Gamers worldwide (most of which, we presume, have phones) are discovering this week that Diablo: Immortal can get pretty pricey, depending on how they choose to play the game.
The mobile debut for Blizzard’s iconic action RPG has been met with a healthy dose of criticism since it was first announced, with critics and fans alike fearing the worst upon the game’s release. It has already been reported ad nauseum that yes, Diablo: Immortal can be “pay to win”, but one streamer – New Zealand-based Quin69 – seems to have accidentally proven to the folks at GameRant that might not always be the case
…Because he spent almost four THOUSAND dollars and has yet to obtain one of the game’s most coveted upgrade items.
New Zealand Twitch Streamer Quin69 has been highlighting the frustrations of many Diablo Immortal players regarding its aggressive microtransactions model. After spending several thousand dollars on Diablo Immortal’s shop, the streamer has yet to receive one of the coveted 5-star legendary quality gems. In a way, this has shown that “pay to win” isn’t always the case, as this streamer burns away an alarming amount of cash without success.
Streamer Spends Nearly $4,000 on Diablo Immortal and Doesn’t Get Any 5 Star Legendary Gems -GameRant
While GameRant also reports that this sum of money equates to “over a full year of free-to-play progress”, it makes me wonder… Why would you even spend that much money and not just play the game?
Diablo: Immortal is easy to pick on, absolutely. I’m kinda doing that right now by writing this blog. But it also seems like these people who are reporting that fully maxing out a character for $100,000 USD (see Bellular’s report on that above), or spending $4,000 only to not see a single five-star gem are very much the exception to Diablo: Immortal’s ideal playstyle – not the rule.
For some who may have an absurd amount of disposable income (or an unhealthy addiction to loot boxes), I can imagine that this system plays right into their desires. Maybe this completely obliterates balance in PvP, maybe not. But surely people aren’t downloading this game thinking that they need to spend four to six figures worth of real money to have a good time… Right?
I’ve actually heard some good feedback on Immortal from a few friends, and it seems like many are able to have a good time with the game without actually dumping obscene amounts of money into it. Time will tell whether or not this model will stick around, but something tells me Blizzard’s already made enough dough off massive Diablo: Immortal whales to compensate for whatever they might lose by people boycotting the game based on reports like this.
Diablo: Immortal is available now for mobile and PC.
