To say that Diablo Immortal's launch is not so great is a bit of an understatement. That's not even saying anything about the legendary memes that spurred from its initial reveal. And now that it's out, gamers are making their really harsh feelings known about the game - specifically against the copious helping of microtransactions within it.
While the game itself was relatively "okay" in terms of critic reviews, user reviews have been steadily dropping for one reason: players are saying that it's basically pay to win. But is that even true?
No Money, No Endgame
The new free-to-play MMORPG from Activision Blizzard seems to suffer from a pay-to-win endgame, as reported by Forbes. It's not really a weird thing in the mobile game space per se (even if Immortal is actually also available on PC), but microtransactions and pay to win schemes in the game still seems over the top - even in comparison to similar titles.
According to Forbes senior contributor Paul Tassi, it all starts and ends with the Legendary Crests. You need to get these if you want to get a basic setup for your character to be competitive enough. Getting one of these crests will give you a legendary gem rated from 1 to 5 stars if you put it into a Rift.
To get one Legendary Crest, you need to spend 160 Eternal Orbs - something that you cannot earn in-game in any way, as it is more or less a premium currency.
Free players can still get these Crests, but they're limited to getting three a month. Plus, another trouble with the gems that a Legendary Crest spits out is that you can never really get the one you want - you always want the higher-rated gems, obviously. Basically, this forces free players to get stuck with having to pay for Eternal Orbs, which can only be bought with real world money.
By then, the damage has been done. If you don't have money, you won't level up your character fast enough. That's it. That's basically proof that Diablo Immortal microtransactions indeed make the game pay-to-win. But just how much, exactly? Well, the figure you're going to get might blow your mind.
Read Also: Former Activision Blizzard Employee Mentions An 'Unannounced PVP FPS' Game On LinkedIn
How Much Does It Cost To Max Out In Diablo Immortal?
GameRant reported about a YouTuber who literally did the math on how much you'll have to spend in Diablo Immortal - all for the purpose of maxing out a character's gems. The magic figure? $110,000. Yes, you read that right.
Even spending hundreds of dollars on a free-to-play game designed for mobile is already outrageous. But over $100K? That's basically a shakedown disguised as a game, and this is likely what Bellular News on YouTube felt when the final amount was calculated.
In their analysis video, they even went as far as claiming that Diablo Immortal's microtransactions would "completely destroy" Activision Blizzard's reputation, as if it hasn't suffered enough damage already:
Even several of the biggest Twitch streamers believe the same thing. According to streaming superstar Asmongold, the game is indeed pay-to-win - even after he actually banned critics on his streams crying foul over his own in-game spending, reports Metro UK.
Either way, it looks like things must change soon for Immortal for it to build back up its reputation - "good" critic reviews be damned.
Related Article: Diablo Immortal Can't Be Played On Samsung Phones With Exynos Chips
