Blizzard has surprised with a very early, yet very unfortunate, revelation regarding the launch of the upcoming Diablo 4 season, which is set right on the release date of a major competitor. The Season of Divine Intervention will be launched on December 11 at 8:30 PM PT. The tweet coming from Diablo’s official account indicated a journey ‘full of gifts… if you succeed,’ suggesting that new demon hordes and capstone dungeons will be introduced with the season. But how did the community react? It could be said that the reaction was somewhat more… heated than the fiery areas of hell in Sanctuary.
To put it simply, the players of Diablo 4 kept on asking about the release day of seasonal content so Blizzard finally confirmed the date for December 11, 8:30 PM Pacific Time, the exact same time when the launch of the competitor’s season is planned. That’s it for the news. But the replies are the real story, where the gaming community almost immediately turned into a battlefield of its own. What do you know? The next major patch for Path of Exile 2, Diablo’s biggest competitor in the action RPG market, is scheduled for December 12. You got it right. The timing is, as a player named MadhutchMike aptly put it, a ‘Bold move cotton.’
This cannot be called a silent launch at all. This is Blizzard, in a way, blocking the gates to their season just as if they were at the same place where Grinding Gear Games are going to have their big party the next day. And the players have been very quick to notice it, just like that. Under the tweet announcing the news, the comments section is already filled with people expecting, salty, and just plain confused about Blizzard’s strategy.
The players’ reactions are mixed; some are extremely thrilled. User Liam94 simply said, ‘Super excited for this!’ which is just the kind of good vibe you would expect. But, they are, to be brutally honest, flooded with questions and criticisms. A good part of the confusion is over the exact start time. User mpetruzz was asking, ‘So the season starts on December 12th?’ and indeed this is a very logical question regarding anyone not living in the West Coast. For Europeans, a different user was revealing that it will be at 5:30 AM on the 12th for the Germans. ‘Just before most people wake up to go to work,’ was their point, and they were questioning whether Blizzard really did them such a favor with that timing.
However, the major, loud topic is all about the competition. The POE2 thing. Comments like ‘We are playing poe 2 bozos,’ straight from Reflect Mobs, set the general vibe. Another user, KSB2215, went all the way: ‘What total fool decides to schedule this over poe2? That person should be fired. And to push back the launch 2.5 days starting at practically midnight is a hardcore failure.’ Ouch. The sentiment was echoed by OphoisSon who was pointing at the marketing department: ‘Who ever is in charge of marketing should be fired for releasing anyshit today .the game is not in good spot and you still release your shit on other games days.’
And besides the dates being identical there is also the fact that the replies show a much deeper level of player discontent with Diablo 4’s current state. Many comments are aimed at the base game rather than the new season. ‘Cool, but why, when game is not a fun?’ asked Pavel Nosek. Another user, Brambor, criticized the seasonal challenge design: ‘did anyone tell you before that the challenges are pretty bad? you may see it as a good thing to fill KPI session creation but most people hate it.’
Among the demands there are already some that want the exact features coming up, which indicates what the players really desire beyond the new season. VergaNeitor was asking for ‘support builds healers and 5 players party.’ AnnualBillsFan is looking for a ‘Rebirth feature when?’ And one user, M.9.B, was bombarding with a request to ‘Add Arabic language’ multiple times. Then, there is the classic, nostalgic longing that never seems to fade: ‘We just want D2,’ from Nacho LS, and ‘Out here wanting diablo 2 updates,’ from RantGuy. This is very telling that for a certain segment of the fanbase, the past still casts a long shadow.
And, of course, the direct comparisons are extremely harsh. ProimagensJR provided a very short but categorical review: ‘PoE > Diablo 1, 2, 3, and 4.🤢’ This sparked a mini-debate, with another user, Jaazi, responding to a similar comment, ‘and you literally commented this on diablo’s page for what? just
Blizzard has also faced criticism for other decisions, while the PlayStation and Xbox platforms continue to evolve their own services.
