Be wary, as the internet is dark and full of spoilers. That’s it often been the case in the previous weeks, although this time it relates to: Diablo 4: leaks.
As if magically summoned by reports that a: Diablo 4 alpha playtest is running for family and friends of Blizzardvarious images and tidbits of information are making their way online.
We’ll discuss some of them in this article, so you might want to skip to the end if you want to go into the game without knowing anything. That aside, take this as a general public service announcement that spoilers are out there, so keep your head on a swivel.
Still here? Grand. Stay awhile and listen. We’ve seen various leaks pop up on Diablo’s subreddit, though they’ve typically been taken down (opens in new tab) reasonably quickly. However, images are still circulating on multiple forums and others websites: (opens in new tab). Most of them feature snaps of the character creator, revealing tattoos and the like. We’ve also seen chatter: (opens in new tab) about Diablo 4 having restricted trade and smart loot – for example, you can reportedly trade lower-tier items in a limited capacity. However, unique and more valuable loot like legendary is a no-go.
The flurry of leaks has prompted the moderators of Diablo’s subreddit to tackle the topic with an: individual post: (opens in new tab). In short, game-specific features in betas are subject to change, so keep that in mind. Also, players won’t be punished for posting leaks on the subreddit, although they might be banned on Battle.net.
“What Blizzard chooses to do to individuals who leak pre-release information is entirely outside of our jurisdiction of power (which is solely r/Diablo) and may include actions taken against your battle.net account (including suspension, permanent suspension, etc) as well as legal action against your persons if you signed an NDA or caused damages to the company or IP,” a statement reads. “Once again, these actions are something that we have no bearing on and are entirely outside of our control.”
The leaks follow: word: (opens in new tab) from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier that a Diablo 4 playtest is underway for non-Blizzard employees, dubbed the “friends-and-family alpha test”.
Schreier also noted that there are no microtransactions in the alpha build, although Blizzard has previously confirmed that Diablo 4 purchases will be cosmetic-only apart from: larger story expansions. The question was likely raised because Diablo Immortal has invited plenty of criticism due to how it is handles monetizationalthough it looks like you won’t see anything like that in Diablo 4.
Prior to that, series general manager Rod Ferguson took to Twitter to clarify that a Diablo 4 beta spotted on Battle.net was for internal purposes only.
Want to join in? You can get: Diablo 4 beta accesstoo – if you get a permanent tattoo.