It’s already been well documented that Diablo Immortal’s monetization is off the wall, whaling players for as much as $50K-$80K to earn best-in-slot – a “discount” from initial estimations of over $100K – but now there are players of the game calling attention to another aspect of the mobile ARPG’s monetization that appeared to be trying to fly under the radar.
The issue once again is related to DI’s crest lootboxes, specifically the legendary tier, which readers will recall can be either earned sparingly through regular logins and progression paths or purchased in the game’s shop for Orbs. YouTubers Darth Microtransaction and Josh Strife Hayes have both put out videos that cast a spotlight on a third “hidden” feature of purchased legendary crests, finding that these lootboxes drop gems that can be sold in the game’s auction house for platinum, an auction house-specific currency, while gems that drop from earned lootboxes – i.e., ones that are not bought – cannot be sold on the marketplace.
Visually speaking, both of these legendary crest types are exactly the same in terms of iconography except for a couple of specific terms. First, the tooltip for legendary crests that are earned explain that legendary gems found in these lootboxes are “bound,” while legendary crests that are bought specifically state in its tooltip that gems found inside “can be sold on the Market.” Second, lootboxes purchased with Orbs are “Eternal Legendary Crests;” a single word difference that identifies it as unique to earned crests. Additionally, it’s worth noting that many earned lootboxes still require purchases in and of themselves, such as the premium battle pass, Prodigy’s Path membership, or the Boon of Plenty.
Both videos decry this sneaky bit of monetization, accusing Blizzard of obfuscation and saying that the difference between legendary crests can ruin the game. In spite of all of this apparent dirty pool, the title is being widely adopted, with over 10 million installs since its launch.
