Be warned, spoilers for Diablo 4 and its expansions lurk below.
There are two types of Diablo players: there are those who play every season, make multiple characters, and experiment with a variety of builds, while obsessing about every stat in granular detail. Then there are those who’ve become bored repeating this same dance every season. Sure, Blizzard may throw in a new endgame mode to keep players interested, such as Realmwalkers, Infernal Hordes, etc, but this second contingent prefers quest and story content, and so only checks back when there’s a major expansion.
The first group is likely to stick around long after the expansion’s hype dies down, but the other group will spend some time with their “mains” and then most likely uninstall the game for 1 to 2 years until the next expansion dops. This is exactly what happened after the Vessel of Hatred expansion, and as Diablo 4 Season 14 approaches, the game is at risk of this happening again. The story has moved on from Mephisto after the conclusion of Lord of Hatred, and with Season 14’s theme being “Death Awakening,” this is the perfect opportunity for Blizzard to finally do something for both types of fans.
See, in the past, seasonal stories in Diablo 4 have been very self-contained and stayed separate from the wider conflict in Sanctuary. The vampires, witches, and killer robots had little bearing on the plot that started with Lilith and ended with Mephisto. This is fine, but it meant that for players to take part, they’d need to make a new seasonal character, and not every player wants to return every season and slog through the same tasks – some just want to play the story chapter with their mains to stay up to date. They mostly just want to enjoy a mini questline every few months when a new season rolls around.
Back in Season 5, the story content was open to all players, be they on the Eternal Realm or seasonal players. But as soon as Season 5 was over, Blizzard reverted to going right back to the old way of doing things, and has continued to ever since. While Vessel and then Lord of Hatred tempted these players to return, Blizzard now risks them checking out again, unless it can offer players who now tend to stay on the Eternal Realm a reason to stick around – and this reason could fall from the High Heavens.
The Angel of Death cometh (again)
Lord of Hatred finally brought the Angels back to Diablo 4 in the form of fan-favourite character Tyrael, the former Archangel of Wisdom, turned mortal to better protect humanity from Diablo and his brothers. The Angels had been conspicuous by their absence in Diablo 4, which was odd after they played such a key role in Diablo 3, with players wondering where they were. But Tyrael may not be the only returning Angel on the horizon, as Season 14’s theme of “Death Awakening” hints that another villain could be returning.
Those who played Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls expansion will remember Malthael, the Angel of Death, replaced Diablo as the main enemy of that campaign before he was defeated. Malthael marked a very different kind of bad guy from the usual spiky demons we fight in Diablo games. He was an Angel gone bad, and this was fresh. Death Awakening could imply that the Angel of Death is coming back, either in Season 14 or perhaps Season 15, with the 14th ending on his return.
It wouldn’t be the first time Diablo 4 has brought back a major villain as a seasonal enemy; they did the same thing with Belial, another Diablo 3 baddie, who, quite frankly, deserved better than being a seasonal afterthought. Now, if Belial’s return had been a story that ALL players could have enjoyed without needing to commit to the Seasonal Journey and a new seasonal character, it could have flowed as part of Diablo 4’s ongoing story.
The Lord of Lies (was apparently just a minor problem)
But instead, Blizzard relegated an important character like Belial to a seasonal gimmick and gated him behind the usual seasonal rules. Sure, players on the Eternal Realm can fight him, but they couldn’t enjoy the short story campaign that came with his return. If Diablo 4 does the same thing to Malthael, then this is an unforgivable offense. Of course, Blizzard hasn’t confirmed that Malthael is even returning, and if he is, it’s likely to be a cliff-hanger/shock reveal at the end of Season 14.
However, the point remains. As Eternal Realm players begin to finish up their time with Lord of Terror, heck, maybe they even indulged in Season 13 while they did, Blizzard really needs to think of a way to keep their attention. It needs to capitalize on the momentum of the expansion and not repeat the mistake it made in Vessel of Hatred and Season 8 by going right back to repetitive seasons that only cater for the most hardcore players.
Sanctuary is a huge world with lots of amazing lore and stories to tell. As Season 14 soft reboots Diablo 4’s seasonal strategy, now is the perfect time for Blizzard to add these seasonal stories to the Eternal Realm in the form of bite-sized campaigns that continue the worldbuilding until the next expansion. If not, then a substantial portion of the existing playerbase is going to zone out, and not for the first time.
