Is Diablo Immortal Worth Your Time in 2024?
As an avid ARPG fan, I think Diablo Immortal is absolutely worth playing casually in 2024 despite its monetization controversy. The polished gameplay, expansive content and active player base offer hundreds of hours of enjoyment without spending money.
Diablo Immortal‘s Monetization Causes Backlash
Diablo Immortal adoption a free-to-play model with extensive monetization through in-game purchases. This includes direct power upgrades like legendary gems along with cosmetics and convenience items.
Investigations reveal reaching max character power costs up to $600k USD in DI:
| Upgrade | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| Max Legendary Gems | $242k |
| Gear Rank 10 | $114k |
| Cosmetics | $96k |
| Convenience Items | $144k |
| Total | $596k |
This monetization allows "pay to win" advantages in PvP modes like Battlegrounds. Top spenders have unmatched power until they reach such high ratings that matchmaking fails.
For many fans, this undermines Diablo‘s ARPG foundations. But all PvE content and basic PvP remains fully accessible without spending.
Polished Gameplay and Tons of Content
Despite monetization disputes, Immortal sets a new bar for mobile ARPG gameplay and content breadth.
The touch controls feel great and also supports controllers. Graphics are excellent with detailed environments and smooth combat animations. It captures the Diablo feel while upgrading visuals.
In terms of content and activities, Diablo Immortal has something for all playstyles:
- Main Story: 30+ hours with full voice acting
- Bounties: Daily randomized content
- Dungeons: Solo joy run challenges
- Set Items: Unique gear sets to collect
- PvP Arenas: 2v2, 4v4 and 8v8 matches
- Cycle of Strife: Faction vs faction wars
- Raids: Demonic hordes to defeat
- Paragon Levels: Post-max level progression
There‘s hundreds of hours of content for free-to-play gamers, even before the Hell difficultly levels.
Smooth Progression Until the End-Game Wall
Gearing up your character in Diablo Immortal feels great early on. You constantly gain new equipment with higher stats while steadily powering up abilities.
The rate of progression feels well balanced through the campaign and early end-game. But upon hitting server Paragon levels, advancement slows dramatically without spending.
| Paragon Level | Time to Reach |
|---|---|
| 1-60 | 20 hours |
| 60-100 | 16 hours |
| 100-150 | 24 hours |
| 150+ | 100+ hours |
Once gear rank upgrades take weeks instead of hours, frustration builds for free players.
Millions Still Playing with Hundreds of Millions in Revenue
While fans debate Diablo Immortal‘s monetization, millions still enjoy playing monthly according to third-party player estimates:
| Date | Est. Monthly Players |
|---|---|
| July 2022 (launch) | 48 million |
| October 2022 | 28 million |
| January 2023 | 24 million |
Additionally, Diablo Immortal has generated over $100 million USD in the first two months according to Bloomberg. Its record mobile launch brought Activision Blizzard back to revenue growth.
This makes it one of the most successful mobile game launches in history. The reported figures also mean average revenue per user is only a few dollars.
Weighing Pros vs Cons of Playing
Given the analysis above, I‘ve broken down the main pros and cons of committing time to Diablo Immortal in 2024:
Pros
- Excellent core gameplay
- Hundreds of hours of free content
- Satisfying gear and level progression
- Massive community of millions
- Regular content updates
- Accessible as a mobile game
Cons
- Aggressive monetization
- Pay-to-win elements affect competitiveness
- Progression stall at end-game
- Repetitive daily/weekly objectives
What Does the Future Hold?
While Immortal has its flaws, there‘s reason to remain invested. Diablo IV releases next year but won‘t replace the convenience of mobile play.
Importantly, Blizzard also has major updates planned through 2023:
- New Helliquary raid boss
- Infernal Awakening event
- Season pass rollout
- PvP balancing changes
Combined with special events and the first Diablo 2 resurrected character coming to Immortal, there‘s plenty of new content inbound.
Final Verdict as a Gaming Expert
As someone who has played thousands of hours of ARPGs over the past decade, I firmly believe Diablo Immortal is worth trying in 2024.
The gameplay provides the best mobile action RPG experience ever. And you can enjoy hundreds of hours across the story, events, dungeons and raids without spending money.
While the monetization and end-game wall causes frustration, becoming invested in seasonal updates can provide recurring fun. My advice is to play between content releases in other AAA titles once you finish the main Immortal storylines.
