Diablo IV won't have any pay-to-win according to Blizzard

Blizzard's reputation hasn't exactly been stellar during the last couple of years, and has felt like a mini-Activision focused on weird decisions, monetisation and sequels. But since a while back, Blizzard has been trying to focus more on what made them so iconic in the first place, with exciting new titles and a genuine feeling that they actually care about their community.

And it seems like this is something that will continue in Diablo IV as well, when it launches sometimes next year. In a lengthy blog post, Blizzard explains the monetisation model for Diablo IV, and Entertainment Senior Director of Global PR Christy Um explicitly writes to The Washington Post that there will be no pay-to-win, with only cosmetic items you can buy for actual money:

"Purchased items are cosmetic only. Cosmetics do not impact gameplay. Therefore, players cannot pay for power."

Director of Product Kegan Clark further explains that even the coolest items are things you can unlock by playing the game, while adding that in-game loot will be "of the highest visual quality":

"The best-looking cosmetics aren't exclusive to the Shop. There are incredible pieces — Unique and Legendary quality items — for players to find without ever going to the Shop. The Shop offers more diversity of choices, not systematically better choices."

Clark also says you cannot boost your way through the game by buying any advantages:

"We want to be clear that players can't unlock Season Boosts more quickly through purchases — there is no way to unlock more boosts, or boosts at a faster pace, by spending money."

Sounds good to us, great decisions from Blizzard. What do you think about all this?