My Thoughts on Diablo Immortal's Monetization Plans

It has been over 2 years since the disastrous Diablo Immortal announcement that in my opinion resulted in a overreaction from the community, though it's an understandable reaction. Within that time period, there's been little in the way of announcements for this game beyond some trailers and other tidbits of info. However, near the end of 2020, Blizzard made a news post about how they were planning to monetize Diablo Immortal. Since I was busy with other projects at the time, I wasn't able to give my thoughts on it immediately and in fact, I only learned about this news post relatively recently.

Personally, I don't strongly like or dislike Blizzard's current monetization strategy. This is probably better than what some others may think, if only because they are unwilling to give the game a chance due to reasons such as the platform the game is releasing on or the fact NetEase or Blizzard are involved. However, the fact that I have a neutral opinion does mean I have some concerns and critique to offer that may be useful for improving the release version of the game or at least giving those who are undecided about the game more information to consider. In this article, I will convey why I have a neutral reception to the news post by highlighting certain parts of it and offering my opinion on them.

Reviewing the News Post

Blizzard starts with a brief introduction where they directly acknowledge that this news post is meant to address a concern that many people probably have in regards to how the game is monetized. After establishing that the game is free-to-play and will generate profits through microtransactions, they then explain their core values for designing a free-to-play game:

"First and foremost of these values is gameplay first. Core mechanics are designed to be fun first, and purchases should never circumvent Diablo’s core gameplay – killing demons and getting gear! There should also be a pathway to earn most things you can pay for. And critically important is that the only way to acquire gear is by playing the game."

The most important thing that I noticed from this first value is that they seem adamant about not selling equipment for real life money. This is good and indicates they have learned from their mistake with the Real Money Auction House in Diablo 3. If this value is adopted in earnest, then one of the major ways that Diablo Immortal could be pay to win (in one of the worst ways possible) is simply not an option. This also contrasts with how Hearthstone is monetized since cards, which are somewhat analogous to gear in a Diablo game, can be received by paying real money. In fact spending real money is the best way to acquire cards for many players.

"Second, we want to provide purchase options that feel worthwhile and deepen your engagement and enjoyment of the game, and where possible the enjoyment of other players as well. Purchases should not detract from your gameplay experience."

This second value seems really easy to take the wrong way. Worthwhile purchase options may be good in the sense that they provide good value, but a deepened engagement and enjoyment of the game literally means the game will be less enjoyable if players don't spend money. This is concerning because many games utilize a strategy of making the base experience so unenjoyable that players are all but forced to spend money to have a meaningful experience in a free-to-play game. To be fair, in-game purchases, no matter how innocuous, do tend to serve to enhance the gameplay experience.

"Third, purchases should feel like a bonus, and entirely optional to enjoy Immortal. The core Diablo Immortal game experience will always be free, and you should be able to enjoy the game for hours on end whether or not you choose to spend money."

I like this value because they outright state that players can play as much as they want without needing to spend money. This immediately differentiates it from any game with a stamina, energy, or lives system where players can play the game for what usually amounts to a brief amount of time, but then have to wait a long time before meaningfully engaging with the game again. 

However, it is worth mentioning that a game I recently discussed known as Genshin Impact technically allows players to "enjoy" the game for hours on end since the rewards are what are time-gated. I don't expect Diablo Immortal to time-gate all of its rewards (though some will be), but I do want to emphasize that part of what makes Diablo fun is that there are always rewards that can be farmed for.

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The news post then discusses examples of what can be bought with real money. From this point I will be breaking down paragraphs into shorter phrases and addressing those, though I will still be considering the entire paragraph as context. I strongly recommend reading the news post for context.

"A good example of these values at work are Crests used with Elder Rifts."

This is the first example of a purchasable item that Blizzard is planning to offer. Also, Blizzard mentions that Elder Rifts can be run as much as the player wishes, which is encouraging from a gameplay perspective but I want to focus on the Crests themselves.

"...Crests can be earned or purchased."

This is an encouraging phrase since this means players can receive Crests through normal gameplay. This makes the act of purchasing Crests more of a pay to skip option.

"Using Crests spices up the experience by adding random modifiers that enhance gameplay..."

I get the impression that these are meant to be like affixes for Mythic+ dungeons. Blizzard also mentions that they can make Elder Rifts harder or easier. This is interesting, but I could see players getting frustrated about getting an easier Elder Rift when they want a challenge and vice versa. Perhaps there should be two types of Crests so that players can opt to make the challenge easier or harder on their own much like how players can toggle difficulty in Diablo 3.

"Using a Crest guarantees certain non-gear rewards such as Runes and Legendary Gems."

If Crests could only be purchased, this would be an immediate red flag since Runes and Legendary Gems are typically known to provide significant bonuses and that isn't changing in Diablo Immortal. Instead, the fact that Crests can provide such great benefits in the way of powers is more of a point of concern if Crests take too long to acquire from normal gameplay. This is because if Crests take too long to acquire through normal gameplay (much like with Hearthstone cards), then the act of purchasing Crests is such an extreme form of pay to skip that it becomes pay to win in a harmful way. I would normally be willing to tolerate this in a PvE game, but Diablo Immortal will have an in-game economy and I think Blizzard is better off with embracing the cosmetic-oriented monetization strategy that I'd like to think they're known for.

With that said, it is worth mentioning that Legendary Gems can supposedly be acquired through crafting, though they would require Runes to craft them.

"Crests also provide Rift points when used by at least one member of the party, and all players in the group will be rewarded with Rift points even if they do not use their own Crest. Accumulated Rift points can then be used to acquire items such as Legendary Gems."

I like that there is a social aspect to using Crests since it allows players to share the wealth with others who may not have the time or money to acquire Crests. This idea raises similar concerns as the previous point since Legendary Gems seem to be very powerful based on Blizzard's other news posts. However, the social aspect now makes me even less concerned about how pay to win Crests may be for the same reason that I'm not bothered by the WoW Token - because they can benefit players who are small spenders or don't (or can't) spend at all.

"Reforging item properties requires special consumable materials that can be earned through gameplay or purchased."

I suspect that people will have mixed feelings about the ability to reroll an item's stats. On one hand, some may prefer this since all they really need to do is acquire certain pieces of equipment which they can then attempt to reforge. However, depending on how easy the reforging items in question are to acquire, it may make the process of acquiring optimal equipment much faster which in turn may shorten the entertainment value of the endgame. One way that Blizzard may attempt to address this is by making the gear itself very rare, which may frustrate players.

Personally, I am more favorable of having reforging since it gives players more options for dealing with unfavorable random outcomes. Also, there are ways to make the endgame interesting that don't involve relying on Skinner Box design and instead involve developing meaningful endgame challenges or other content.

"Players can earn Reforge Stones for extra re-rolls on an item property, or purchase Specialized Reforge Stones, which allow you to focus on the item properties you want most."

While I personally like both of these types of Reforge Stones since one allows players to reroll stats and the other allows players to have more control over exactly which stats are rerolled, I do not like that the latter is a premium option. This is because while Specialized Reforge Stones are really more of a pay to skip option since players can feasibly achieve what the item accomplishes with some grinding, it is an objective benefit that, as far as I can tell, can only be received by paying money. This sort of microtransaction could be a dealbreaker for some players and could potentially give Diablo Immortal an image of being an awful pay to win game, even if I personally believe this sort of microtransaction hardly qualifies as a truly terrible one.

I personally think this can be resolved by making it possible to earn Specialized Reforge Stones through gameplay, even if they're a bit rarer than their normal counterpart.

"Immortal also has a Battle Pass progression system that allows players to earn rewards by completing Seasonal Quests and other in-game activities."

While some may not like the Battle Pass because Fortnite popularized it or they don't want to pay to then have to play a bunch to unlock some extra stuff, I personally find most Battle Pass systems to be generous (both for free and paid versions) and they are admittedly a good, though simple and obnoxiously manipulative way to keep players engaged. Let's see what the Diablo Immortal Battle Pass will supposedly offer...

"All players can claim rewards such as Reforge Stones and Crests through the free track, while players with the paid track will have access to exclusive cosmetics and even more rewards."

The free track rewards seem promising since it does show that Reforge Stones and Crests can be acquired at a steady rate, though I hope the Battle Pass isn't the only way to earn these items since Battle Pass rewards typically refresh on longer timescales that range from 1-3 months. I'm not surprised players will get a few more of these items from the paid track and it's nice to see cosmetics finally get mentioned, even if this particular variety consists of time-limited exclusives. Path of Exile, incidentally, also offers time-limited exclusive cosmetics in the form of supporter packs.

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The news post then discusses game economy by mentioning the market and the various currencies the game will have.

"Before we get into the details, let’s be clear—this is not the Diablo III real-money auction house."

Well, it probably is a good idea to clarify this when discussing the game's economy. It's also worth mentioning that there's a reason it was removed. While the novelty of being able to literally make money by earning and selling items in Diablo 3 was interesting, it was definitely for the best to remove the real-money auction house.

"In Diablo Immortal we want players to have the ability to participate in a fair, healthy, player-driven economy that doesn’t circumvent gameplay."

This is encouraging for a couple of reasons. First is that the lack of a player economy in Diablo 3 after the auction house removal kind of sucked since it reduced the usefulness of gold despite attempts to add huge sinks for it. The second is that having an uncontrolled player economy like in Diablo 2 led to a lot of shady third party sellers of various goods. Diablo Immortal appears to be trying to implement some version of a controlled economy and the details look somewhat promising.

"The Market connects anonymous buyers and sellers, with no ability to cash-out."

While this is a bit of a bummer since trading in in a face-to-face engagement and the social aspects that come with it are lost, it is probably for the best since the anonymity may make it more difficult for real world trading to take place.

"There are limits to what can and cannot be put on the Market. While it will be a possible source of certain materials, supplementary items, and Legendary Gems, it is not a place to acquire gear."

This part is a big deal. It does suck that gear can't be traded, but this does mean that players can't just easily game gear progression by using the market like in past Diablo games. It's also still possible to gain some power by using the market through the other purchasable options, so this sort of design choice comes off as a compromise.

"It’s also a way for all players, including those who choose to never make an in-game purchase, to exchange items they find for additional in-game currency, beyond what they’re able to earn through play."

"Platinum can be earned through daily gameplay activities or purchased with real money. Players can also obtain Platinum by selling items via the Market. Platinum is used for activities such as exchanging goods on the Market or crafting Charms." 

I grouped these two quotes together since Platinum appears to be the only way to buy items on the market. As the part on Platinum mentions, the acquisition of it through gameplay seems to be time-gated. This means that unless acquisition via real money is limited in some way (which I would personally recommend - seriously, please do this or there may be serious in-game economic consequences), players who buy Platinum using real money have a distinct advantage when it comes to having buying power on the market.

With that info in mind, I think the approach to using real money on the in-game market this time is a little better because the currency cannot be used to purchase gear and can only truly be used in-game. I also noticed that items that seem to be available to trade on the market, especially Legendary Gems, can be gotten from normal gameplay or by using Crests, which are buyable in what I consider to be a pay to skip manner until more information is made available. This in turn makes the act of buying Platinum to buy items off the market something of a pay to skip since it reduces the amount a player has to farm certain items (and only certain items). Other players have to be willing to sell too, meaning that there has to be an active playerbase for Platinum to truly have value on the market.

These details make it very clear to me that Blizzard is trying to take a middle ground approach where they attempt to combat real world trading using non-punitive measures and also reward players for playing the game by allowing them to earn premium currency much like how players can earn Battle.net balance by farming gold in WoW. I personally consider this an apt comparison since the players who would mostly be doing the buying on the market would be spending real money on Platinum to then buy in-game items that dedicated players farmed, much like how players buy WoW Tokens in order to receive gold often farmed by dedicated players.

However, the usefulness of Platinum outside of the market is much more limited based on the current information since Charms are limited in their usefulness. Specifically, players can only equip one and they can increase the power of up to 5 of a player's skills depending on their luck. This strongly suggests that the benefits of earning the best Charms are fairly limited, making the act of buying a lot of Platinum to acquire an optimal Charm, which may also involve farming or buying materials, a mild form of pay to skip in my opinion.

"Gold drops from enemies, chests, and other lootables in the world of Sanctuary. It cannot be purchased or traded and must be earned through gameplay. Gold can be used for things like upgrading your items and purchasing randomized gear from NPC vendors."

The fact that players can upgrade items and buy gear with Gold is probably why Blizzard had to separate it from the Platinum currency that can be used to buy items. It is also why they have to specify it cannot be earned in any other way than through gameplay. I believe this is a prudent approach, even if it means Gold is not directly useful in the player economy and is largely relegated to being like the Diablo 3 iteration of the currency.

"Eternal Orbs are acquired with real money only, and can be used for purchasing Platinum, as well as other items such as the Battle Pass, Specialized Reforged Stones, Crests, and cosmetics."

Critique of the Specialized Reforge Stones that I already made aside, I'm not surprised that there's an exclusive premium currency. While I personally think every currency should be earnable to a degree through gameplay, I suppose it's fine if many of the items that can be bought with the premium currency can be earned through gameplay instead. Cosmetics are an acceptable exception in this case due to their minimal effect on objective performance in gameplay, though I think it's important that at least some cosmetics can be earned through gameplay even if they're different from the buyable ones. Also, it is a little encouraging to see them mention cosmetics again here (and this time in a way separate from the Battle Pass).

 

Closing Thoughts

The news post closes by mentioning the Technical Alpha and reiterating they want to ensure that the game is fun. The fact that the game is still in a relatively early stage of development and a release date still hasn't been announced suggests that Blizzard is being very careful in their approach to handling this game. It also means that criticism may have more impact, so I will summarize what I said above and offer additional points to consider that I couldn't bring up when reviewing the news post.

When considering my past article on what Blizzard should not do with games like Diablo Immortal, they appear to have not violated either of my requests and seem especially insistent about not using hard time gating to prevent people from having fun. However, the current monetization plans could still stand to be improved since some pay to skip examples were mentioned and while I don't dislike such microtransactions, I may have strong opinions about specific types of pay to skip.

For example, Specialized Reforge Stones seem to be an exclusive premium item that provides a distinct advantage. While it's not an incredibly harmful form of pay to win since players will have many options for optimizing their equipment, the exclusivity of such a highly useful item may anger some. As I said above, I believe the solution is to offer Specialized Reforge Stone as an occasional reward from normal gameplay.

The fact that there appears to be no purchase limit on Platinum is a point of concern as well. This is because while Charms may only require so much Platinum to make, the fact that players may be able to directly buy as much Platinum as they want for real money means that the price of goods on the market may be heavily inflated to the point that it's nearly impossible to buy items from the market without buying Platinum for real money. I think some sort of regulation needs to be put in place to allow all players to engage with the market as a buyer and seller. For example, limiting how much Platinum a player can buy in a given timeframe or fixing the price of items on the market to be within at least a certain range would suffice.

Another thing that bothers me is what the news post doesn't mention or rather, doesn't mention enough. While I didn't really expect Blizzard to take most of my ideas about what should be done with games like Diablo Immortal seriously (such as adding an offline mode), I did expect cosmetics to be mentioned more. I think it's important to emphasize the addition of cosmetic microtransactions since many, including myself, consider them to be an acceptable way to monetize the game since they're literally unnecessary for accomplishing any objective that a game will typically throw at the player. 

As I also frequently mention, Blizzard is well-known for offering these types of microtransactions and considering their development practices among other actions, selling virtual toys is hardly a cause for outrage among those who critique in good faith. What I'm ultimately trying to convey is that when it comes to microtransactions, Diablo Immortal should take a page from the practices that games like Path of Exile employ and put cosmetics at the forefront of what is offered instead of items like Crests and Reforge Stones.

Despite the aforementioned grievances, I can at least safely say that for the time being, Diablo Immortal doesn't seem like the blatant cash grab that some assumed it would be. Hopefully the release iteration and all future iterations remain that way, regardless of how seriously criticism, such as what this article offers, is considered.