Diablo 4’s first battle pass is a complete fumble

Ah, the freshness of a new seasonal drop. In a game like Fortnite, where battle passes are generally done right, it’s almost like Christmas. In Diablo 4, it’s currently a nightmare: at least, based on what we’re getting in the first season. Let’s quickly break down why Blizzard fumbled this initial pass so badly.

The premium currency situation is bonkers

Many games offer premium currency as a reward for finishing up a season pass. In Fortnite, you can actually earn back the V-Bucks (its premium currency) you spent on the pass by completing it, then spend that on the next pass. It’s a smart way to keep people invested, and in some live service games, it’s known as “going infinite.” Diablo 4 on the other hand, just like its leveling process, is far stingier.

After spending $10, if you grind up everything, you’ll get 666 Platinum [premium] currency. That’s essentially $6.66 USD. Funny right? Well, no. As this Reddit post from user Caddy-Whompus points out, it’s not enough to buy the absolute cheapest, bottom-of-the-barrel item in the store (which is 800 Platinum): much less the next battle pass.

So Blizzard placed the 'Activate Premium Battle Pass' button right next to the button you have to constantly press to check your Season Journey.

Guess what happened to me and at least 5 others on my stream. This is straight up Malicious Design. @Diablo pic.twitter.com/99KhTR51ad

— Rurikhan (@Rurikhan) July 21, 2023

To make matters worse (as Twitter user/streamer Rurikhan points out), Blizzard snuck the “buy premium pass” button in a spot that’s extremely easy to click on, which quickly became a widespread concern among the community. Diablo 4 community manager Adam Fletcher responded that a fix for this was coming, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Battle passes have been screwed up more times than I can count

At this point, the battle pass system is a generation old (and change). There’s really no excuse for messing things up this badly, but publishers find a way every time to do just that. Years ago, Wizards of the Coast tinkered with battle passes every other release with Magic: Arena, and confused the community as a result. You could literally see it become stingier in real time.

There are people who are paid to ensure that backlash like this doesn’t happen, and there are truckloads of studies that folks can use to prevent this from becoming a thing in 2023. But as we’ve seen time and time again, big publishers will press their luck constantly: until it runs out.