Diablo 4 Seasons are really fun, but they aren’t actually pushing the game forward 

Blizzard’s post-launch support for Diablo 4 has been mixed. While the release of Loot Reborn fixed a lot of major issues with the game, the seasonal content release has slowed down the progression of the ARPG compared to other live-service games.

Now, Diablo 4 seasons are definitely cool. The arrival of Witch Doctor powers in the Season of Witchcraft was awesome, and the current run of stealing boss powers in Season 8 is incredibly unique. But after a season is over, what’s left for players? If a player skips a season, what are they coming back to?

Diablo 4 Seasonal FOMO

Every season of Diablo 4 is mostly the same. With the game’s main story kept exclusively to the no-longer-annual expansions, every season is essentially a side distraction until Blizzard’s next expansion finally launches. 

In a previous interview with Eurogamer, associate game director Joe Piepiora said Blizzard does “not want to extend the campaign into seasons and then make seasons required reading for the expansions, for that to make sense.”

While ARPG games are already vaguely repetitive as a genre, Diablo 4 seasons have started to grate. The game’s turn towards a harder, more challenging experience is helping, but as seasons continue to add in seasonal powers only for them to disappear as the next season appears, it’s growing a tad stale.

It would be unfair to say that Blizzard isn’t using seasons to add overall improvements to the game, but they aren’t pushing the game forward very much. Compare Diablo to pretty much any other live-service. For example, a Helldivers 2 update will add new weapons and armour, mission types, biomes and more that stay in the game outside of the timed events. It just feels more substantial.

We’re not the only ones who believe this is the case. In fact, this very complaint has caused ire amongst the Diablo community. In a recent Reddit thread, fans complained about the game’s update structure and the lack of substantial endgame support. 

“All the work put into the season just goes to waste,” one player said. “It doesn’t add anything once the season is over. There is no character progression. There is no endgame to fight for… If they want the season powers to actually matter and to work for. The powers should stay with that character once its transferred to eternal. Sure it would be imbalanced, but that’s the point isn’t it? Have something unique.”

Of course, Diablo is a franchise built around expansions, and pushing forward the main story outside of expansions would make them less essential. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t get awesome side stories and new minor locations that stay in the game forever, expanding the world and the content instead of adding what’s essentially junk food content for players to binge.

For more Diablo coverage, listen to our interview with series creator David Brevik, or read about the original plans for Diablo 3 that would’ve been very different from what we’ve got.