Gamers will soon be able to try out Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming Diablo game.
The video game developer recently announced that the closed beta for Diablo IV would be available for gamers on most platforms with cross-play in 2022, per Polygon.
As it goes with any closed beta, only a limited number of players can try Diablo IV out in its current state; Blizzard will only invite players based on "gameplay data," per the company's announcement.
Diablo IV Closed Beta Details
Blizzard mentioned in its announcement that its closed beta for Diablo 4 would be different from closed beta tests from other games.
Diablo Franchise General Manager Rod Fergusson and Diablo IV Game Director Joe Shely mentioned in Blizzard's announcement video for the closed beta that it will not feature any quests, side quests, or lore before Diablo IV's conclusion.
Fergusson explained in the video that placing the closed beta after the game's campaign has ended will help closed beta players avoid spoilers on the full story of Lilith's return to Sanctuary.
As such, players should expect that end-game content will be heavily featured during Diablo IV's closed beta. They could also look forward to testing many of the game's new features, which are:
- Helltide, a region-wide event available to heroes that reached World Tier Three: Nightmare difficulty. When caught in a Helltide, players have to face enhanced servants of Lilith, making it difficult for players to defeat them on the field. However, successfully doing so will reward them with better loot to make their efforts worth the trouble and drops of Cinders that can be spent to open Helltide Chests located in various places in Sanctuary.
- Nightmare Dungeons, which are dungeons with amped-up difficulty when a player's first Nightmare Sigil is unlocked. Each Sigil represents a specific dungeon somewhere in Sanctuary. Accessing this dungeon will have players face enemies with special modifiers that could either give them a harder time or better loot.
- Whispers of the Dead is a gameplay feature that acts like commissions from Genshin Impact; completing these will give players experience, gold, and Grim favors, which can be used at the Tree of Whispers to get additional loot and experience.
- Fields of Hatred, a PvP zone wherein players can earn Seeds of Hatred that can be exchanged for PvP cosmetics and mounts when converted to Red Dust.
- Paragon Boards is a new layer of customization for Diablo IV players that provides them with Paragon Points, which can be exchanged for new tiles, Sockets, and additional Paragon Boards.
Closed-End Game Beta Eligibility Requirements
Gamers interested in trying out Diablo IV in its current state can't apply to Blizzard to do so, like in other games. Instead, Blizzard will directly invite gamers based on how long they played other Diablo games, like Diablo II, Diablo III, and Diablo Immortal, per Shely's statement in the announcement video.
As such, players who think they are qualified to play the closed beta must pay attention to the notifications they receive on the official Battle.net website or the Battle.net game launcher.
If an interested player does not receive an invitation by Nov. 18, they are not qualified to test the game out. However, they could wait for the game's public testing phase to be available sometime in early 2023, per Engadget.