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While it’s certainly had its issues, Vessel of Hatred has mostly gone over well with Diablo 4 players – the new Spiritborn class is a popular and powerful new addition, and the swathe of gameplay additions and improvements that arrived alongside it have strengthened its position as an excellent ARPG. Diablo 4’s sixth season, Season of Hatred Rising, also dropped alongside it, but all of its offerings could be enjoyed by everyone, with or without the DLC. However, it sounds like it’s not going to stay that way, as Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson has revealed that future seasons will bring “exclusive” content to those that own Vessel of Hatred.
This isn’t necessarily a new concept for the Diablo series, or for any live service multiplayer game that launches major paid expansions. However, given that Diablo 4 Season 6, which launched directly aside Vessel of Hatred, had no content that was set aside for expansion owners, it may come as a surprise to some newer players in the future. Of course, owning the DLC means that you can enjoy all that Season 6 content as a Spiritborn and with all of the other benefits that come with it, but nothing about Hatred Rising was held back from base game players.
“It can feel a little bit like this expansion is just a single moment in time, and I just wanted to highlight that that’s not the case,” Fergusson tells Polygon. “We’re going to continue to develop features that will be, essentially, exclusive to Vessel of Hatred owners.”
“We’re going to continue to have [Vessel of Hatred] be valuable beyond Season 6 as well,” he adds later in the interview.
Fergusson gives no specifics about what Blizzard intends to gate behind Vessel of Hatred – some examples would have been good here to quell any concerns players have. However, I doubt that this will result in massive swathes of seasonal content being locked behind DLC ownership.
The new gameplay mechanics, systems reworks, and improvements that arrive in seasons will surely still apply to everyone, and base game players will still need new modes, increased level caps, fresh loot, and more incentives to keep playing and hopefully (from Blizzard’s perspective) buying cosmetic battle passes. However, I do wonder if there will be a reduction in just how much regular players will get, or if the Vessel of Hatred-exclusive content will be additional to what is typically offered.
Until we find out more details about Season 7 and beyond, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best games like Diablo and the best RPGs.
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