06 July 2023 , 18:36
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As promised, Activision Blizzard has finally revealed the release date for Diablo 4 Season 1 as part of its recent live stream.
The mystery regarding Diablo 4 Season 1’s release date has finally been revealed, as predicted, as part of the Activision Blizzard’s latest live stream. Following an initial 15 minutes focussing on mobile spin-off Diablo Immortal, associate game director Joseph Piepiora and lead game producer Timothy Ismay went into all the major details concerning Diablo 4’s debut season.
If you happened to miss the Diablo 4 developer update live stream and want to know what to expect, here’s where you’ll find all the most prescient details.
Diablo 4 season 1 release date confirmed
The official Diablo 4 Season 1 release date is Thursday, July 20 as confirmed on the stream broadcast live on the Diablo YouTube channel. That means you only need wait just two weeks to get started in Diablo 4's debut season, whereby the world of Sanctuary stays somewhat familiar but is also suffering from a state of corruption. The new Diablo 4 season will roll out across PlayStation, Xbox and PC at the exact same time, but that time is yet to be confirmed.
Diablo 4 season 1 new content
After previously teasing the theme of corruption in a tweet earlier in the day, Piepiora and Ismay were generous in explaining all the ways Diablo 4 Season 1 will change the map for both new and current players. The season's name was finally revealed to be called Season of the Malignant. It depicts events that take place after the main Diablo 4 campaign and the main change is that enemies essentially have the chance to transform enemies into a malignant version of themselves that are stronger and more powerful. This will reward you with malignant hearts
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Malignant enemies, hearts and powers act as the main new way players will interact with Diablo 4 Season 1 – it's not an expansion but rather a slew of additions. There are 32 malignant powers included in the debut season in total, whereby players can place a malignant heart into different pieces of gear in order to enhance them. They can only be inserted into infested sockets of a specific colour.
Also new are Invoker events, where players have the option to invoke the malignant that gives them the opportunity to farm the specific type of malignant heart co0lour they need for the gear they have equipped. Get to the end of the tunnel during an Invoker event and you can connect it with an outgrowth, this will then generate a monster you'll need to defeat in order to be rewarded.
The developers were clear in stating once again that the Battle Pass and Seasonal Journey, which comes as part of the new season, will only be accessible for players who have beaten the campaign and create a new character. Entering the Seasonal Realm allows them access to the seasonal objectives needed to earn the Favour required to unlock all 100 tiers of the battle pass.
New Legendary items, new bosses and new Unique items were also confirmed to be showing up in Diablo 4 outside of the Seasonal Journey, meaning they can also being enjoyed by players still in the Eternal Realm and don't want to enter the Seasonal Realm – i.e players who either haven't beat the main campaign yet or don't want to start a new character build.