Oh wow, Diablo 4 has had a surprisingly smooth launch so far
At least during this early access period
Just yesterday, June 1st, early access for Diablo IV officially began for owners of the Ultimate and Digital Deluxe editions. But the biggest news for PC players is how surprisingly stable the launch has been. So far. Fingers crossed for the full launch on June 6th. There have been some annoying licensing errors affecting console friends (and a few PC players too), but with the disastrous launch of Diablo III in mind, early access hack n’ slashers can let out a sigh of relief that lightning hasn’t struck twice.
Diablo III’s launch was somewhat infamous for the one-two punch of server issues and just general design decisions that the internet kind of hated. Lags and disconnects were frequent occurrences. I was barely online circa 2012, but even I had heard of Errors 37 and 3006. Mostly from an older sibling who wouldn't shut up about it.
So, Diablo IV’s launch has been very easy, all things considered, and the internet is happy about it. Is that a first? The r/Diablo4 subreddit is full of threads praising the clean launch, with one Redditor who wrote that it’s the “smoothest launch ever for Blizzard on PC.” Another commented: “Playing since release minute, no queues, maxed out settings 150fps at all times outside cutscenes, no rubber banding.” That’s sort of refreshing after the slew of rocky PC launches this year.
But, again, we’ll see if the servers hold steady when everyone gains access on June 6th. Paywalling early access behind more expensive editions is a generally annoying and money-desperate practice, but it may have worked in Diablo IV's favour. Just so players enter the game in waves, rather than in a flood.
“Part of the reason it's so easy to play hours of Diablo IV in one go, staring unblinkingly at the centre third of your screen until you feel your eyeballs turn into raisins, is that it's very well made,” our AliceB wrote in her Diablo IV review. “Whether you'll feel good afterwards is another question,” due to its been-there-done-that predictability.
If you are playing Diablo IV right now, our guides crew have everything you need to know, including how to upgrade healing potions, what the best classes are, and how to redeem that KFC promotion.
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