Diablo Immortal
Released 2 June 2022 Developer Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase Publisher Blizzard Entertainment
An online action RPG in the Diablo series for phones and PC. You pick a class, fight through hordes of demons, collect gear and gems, and team up with other players in dungeons, raids and PvP. It is a dark, bloody game aimed at adults and older teens.
Money health
HarmfulChance, compulsion or exploitation
Addictive design
High4 of 5 — counts the hooks designed in
Average price
Freefree to download
Spending ceiling
No ceilingRepeat purchases, no limit
How it makes money
Harmful: chance, compulsion or exploitation
The game is free, and the story and most content can be played without paying. The money is in power: players buy Eternal Orbs (a pack of 7,200 is A$159.99 on the Australian App Store) and spend them on Legendary Crests, which give a random chance at the rare gems that make a character stronger. A paid Empowered Battle Pass (A$7.99) and Collector's version (A$22.99) add currency and rewards. Community estimates of the cost to fully upgrade one character began around US$100,000 and were later revised to US$300,000 to 600,000. The game was not released in Belgium or the Netherlands because of loot box laws, and its Metacritic PC user score of 0.2 out of 10 was reported as the lowest ever recorded on the site.
How you pay
- Loot boxes
Legendary Crests give random rewards, including rare Legendary Gems. ESRB lists 'In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)', PEGI lists 'paid random items' and Apple lists 'loot boxes'.
- Free-to-play
Free on iOS, Android and PC. The App Store lists packs from A$1.49 (Beginner's Pack) to A$159.99 (7,200 Eternal Orbs).
- Battle pass
An Empowered Battle Pass (A$7.99) and Collector's Empowered Battle Pass (A$22.99) sit on top of the free pass; the paid tier focuses on in-game currency.
minor part of the game
Techniques it uses to keep you paying or playing
- Pay to win
Gem upgrades are a major source of character power and can be bought; community estimates of the cost to fully upgrade a character started around US$100,000 and rose to US$300,000 to 600,000. Blizzard added Telluric Pearls in October 2022 so legendary gems could also be crafted without spending.
- Game currency
Real money buys Eternal Orbs, which are spent on Crests and other items, so prices are not shown in dollars. A 2022 crackdown on third-party Eternal Orb resellers left some players with 'orb debt'.
- Whale design
With upgrade costs estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per character, the game's top end depends on very heavy spenders; these figures are community estimates, not Blizzard's.
minor part of the game - Starter pack
A Beginner's Pack is listed at A$1.49 on the App Store.
minor part of the game
Fairer alternatives
Similar games with a healthier money model
What it costs
Free to start, then A$1.49–A$159.99 a purchase
| What | Where | Price | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner's Pack Smallest pack listed |
Apple App Store (AU) · iOS | A$1.49 | Oct 2026 |
| Pack of 7200 Eternal Orbs Largest pack shown; the page lists only ten items |
Apple App Store (AU) · iOS | A$159.99 | Oct 2026 |
| Empowered Battle Pass | Apple App Store (AU) · iOS | A$7.99 | Oct 2026 |
| Collector's Empowered Battle Pass | Apple App Store (AU) · iOS | A$22.99 | Oct 2026 |
Store prices change often and sales are common; we record the regular price on the date shown.
Reviews from across the web
What the critics said
-
8.5/ 10
Game Informer
Rated it well overall while raising the cost of its monetisation; the review is headlined 'The Price of Playing with the Devil'.
-
4/ 5
PCMag
Rated it as a strong mobile action RPG.
-
4/ 5
TouchArcade
Liked it as a mobile action RPG while discussing its microtransactions and pay-to-win concerns.
-
4/ 5
NME
Found it devilishly fun before the grind sets in.
Scores belong to the outlets that published them; follow the links to read the full reviews. Summaries are ours.
Age ratings & content
What's in it
Content labels
- Blood & gorestrong
Blood, injuries and body damage on screen.
From ESRB descriptors - Violencemoderate
Fighting, weapons, injury and death, from cartoon bonks to realistic killing.
From ESRB and PEGI descriptors
Classification
Age ratings judge content (violence, language, gambling themes), summed up in the content labels above. They say little about how hard a game pushes spending — that's what the money badges are for. About rating boards
Safety & parental controls
Who can talk to your child, and what can they buy?
- Text chat
- Players can interact with strangers
- No user-made content
- Needs an online account
- Terms of service minimum age: 13
Blizzard's licence agreement says children under 13 (14 in Canada) may not use an account, even with consent. The game is a shared online world with parties, warbands and PvP, so children play alongside strangers. Apple lists 'messaging and chat'; we could not confirm whether in-game voice chat is available. Rated M by the ESRB and PEGI 16 for blood and violence.
Who makes it
The companies behind it, and their track record
- Workplace misconduct
Workplace misconduct findings
California Civil Rights Department sued Blizzard and its parent in 2021; settled for about $54 million over pay and promotion discrimination claims in December 2023, approved by the court in January 2024; the claims were not adjudicated. - Loot-box action
Loot-box enforcement
Belgian Gaming Commission, April 2018: found Overwatch's paid loot boxes were a game of chance in breach of Belgian gambling law. - Shut down paid games
Shut down games people paid for
Blizzard shut down the servers of the original, paid Overwatch on 2 October 2022, replacing it with free-to-play Overwatch 2.
Latest on the record
- Labour
About 1,900 workers ratified first union contract
Kotaku - Investigation
EU consumer regulators investigated Diablo Immortal spending design
Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) - Other
Blizzard games went offline in mainland China after NetEase deal ended
The Verge
No track-record badges yet.
Latest on the record
- Labour
Closed or cut funding to several overseas studios
GamesIndustry.biz - Investigation
Dismissed nine staff and referred alleged bribery case to police
Eurogamer - Court case
US court found NetEase breached contract in PUBG dispute; the companies then settled
GamesIndustry.biz
A company's history doesn't change this game's money verdict, which rates only how the game itself makes money. About company track records
Platforms & release
Where you can play it
| Platform | Released | Store |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC Windows version via Battle.net. |
2 June 2022 | — |
| iPhone and iPad | 2 June 2022 | Store page |
| Android phones and tablets | 2 June 2022 | — |
Further reading
- Official website
- Diablo Immortal on Wikipedia
- VGC: Diablo Immortal reportedly won't launch in Belgium or the Netherlands because of loot boxes (May 2022)
- Wikipedia
Facts last checked 22 October 2026. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, apps.apple.com, www.esrb.org, pegi.info, www.metacritic.com, www.metacritic.com, www.blizzard.com, www.videogameschronicle.com. Spotted something wrong? Send a correction.