Blizzard Declares That Diablo IV Has Gone Gold, Releases Gameplay Guide Video Series

[T0@st]

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo IV is feature complete and has reached a development milestone of being software version 1.0. The official Diablo Twitter account posted a not so cryptic tweet boasting the news: "Diablo IV has gone gold. Can you feel her presence now? See you in Sanctuary. 6.6.23 ." The general gaming public will gain access to the fully finished game on June 6, but a select lucky few have been toying with early preview builds over the past months. The last Diablo IV closed beta program attracted plenty of gaming news attention for a technical snafu, wherein owners of a particular NVIDIA GPU model found out the hard way, during D4 playtest sessions, about underlying faults in their chosen silicon - Blizzard is leading an investigation into the matter, with assistance from Team Green.

It is hoped that Blizzard's Diablo team will have all of these hardware melting issues resolved in time for Diablo IV's finalized launch date. In the meantime hardcore fans of the series are encouraged to absorb plenty of preview/marketing material, and go about swatting up on trainer material. Blizzard has uploaded several gameplay guide videos to the official Diablo YouTube channel - the company has enlisted the helpful services of Wudijo, a veteran Diablo streamer, to chaperone viewers through the game's systems.



YOUR GUIDE TO DIABLO IV'S GAMEPLAY - Defeating great evil requires great skill; thankfully, members of the Diablo IV community are here to teach you about all of Sanctuary's ins and hellish outs.

Episode 1: Building Your Character:

Episode 2: Stepping into Sanctuary:

Episode 3: More of Stepping into Sanctuary:

Diablo IV is available for digital pre-purchase as a Standard edition ($69.99), Deluxe edition ($89.99), and Ultimate edition ($99.99). Each digital edition includes one or more items to enlist against the Hellspawn that plague Sanctuary! Pre-purchase for up to 4 days Early Access.

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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Woohooo....can't wait to build a lagomancer

 

[lepudruk]

Great, now I have to figure out how to survive the next 48 days.. Work? Nah, that would kill me. Wife? Please.. Booze? Maybe, but it's tricky - could overdose and wake up on x-mas.. Doh.

 

[igralec84]

Great, now I have to figure out how to survive the next 48 days.. Work? Nah, that would kill me. Wife? Please.. Booze? Maybe, but it's tricky - could overdose and wake up on x-mas.. Doh.

Luckily, it's only 45 days for me

 

[MrDweezil]

What does this even mean? The game doesn't release for another 6 weeks and they're obviously going to keep working on it in the meantime. Even if its what they'll ship for physical copies, you aren't going to be able to play that version without it connecting to the internet and patching anyway.

 

[T0@st]

What does this even mean? The game doesn't release for another 6 weeks and they're obviously going to keep working on it in the meantime. Even if its what they'll ship for physical copies, you aren't going to be able to play that version without it connecting to the internet and patching anyway.

According to UbiSoft:

Going Gold
You might have seen video game studios celebrating the fact that a game has “gone gold” on social media. But what does that actually mean?

A few weeks before its release date, a game receives the “gold” approval from first- party companies like Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo, meaning that they have approved the game to be published on their consoles. This indicates that the main development on the game is finished; the game is working and ready to move to the manufacturing stage. Going gold is an important milestone for teams, which is why they love to celebrate it with the community!

Nowadays, the process is digital, but the term “going gold” comes from when the master copy of the game was actually sent on a disc that was gold-colored. However, approval from first parties doesn’t mean that all the work is done. Teams can still work on polishing the game and make small adjustments before release, and of course can work on post-launch content.

So not all team members get to sit on the beach and imbibe endless Piña Coladas before launch day.

 

[Sithaer]

Luckily, it's only 45 days for me

Same and luckily I have enough games to keep me busy meanwhile. 'not even sure if I can finish everything I want before D4's relase'

What does this even mean? The game doesn't release for another 6 weeks and they're obviously going to keep working on it in the meantime. Even if its what they'll ship for physical copies, you aren't going to be able to play that version without it connecting to the internet and patching anyway.

Sadly physical copy wont really be a thing at least on PC from what I know. 'not sure about consoles'
I wanted to buy the physical copy but there will be none except for the Collector's edition which is way out of my budget and hard to get in my country. 'and funnily enough the collector doesn't come with the game itself '

I have D3 and the expansion standard edition in a box/physical copy which also came with a nice poster but this time around I had to buy the digital version..

 

[Vayra86]

I think I'm going to take the plunge only because I want it to be great. Not as a pre order though. Let the dust settle first.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Super excited for this loved the beta and so far I'm liking the changes they've made.

 

[Space Lynx]

I think I'm going to take the plunge only because I want it to be great. Not as a pre order though. Let the dust settle first.

I don't understand the appeal of the multiplayer in Diablo IV. Single player campaign looks like a blast, but I am not big into endlessly grinding gear.

 

[kapone32]

Does this mean we get a price discount? That was what it meant in the PS days.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I don't understand the appeal of the multiplayer in Diablo IV. Single player campaign looks like a blast, but I am not big into endlessly grinding gear.

Likely due to the more open world nature of this vs previous entries mobbing with a crew of 4 buddies is a blast.

I didn't really care for group play in D2/3 unless they where buddies irl either though.

 

[Sithaer]

Likely due to the more open world nature of this vs previous entries mobbing with a crew of 4 buddies is a blast.

I didn't really care for group play in D2/3 unless they where buddies irl either though.

Yeah I also mainly played D2 solo or with friends, only did Baal runs with randoms when I wanted to up some levels faster.
D3 almost only solo since the relase day, actually for years now I've been exclusively playing SSFHC. 'solo self found hardcore'

I plan to play D4 solo or maybe with some of those old friends if they happen to come back to D4.
World bosses I don't mind doing with randoms tho, thats not a big deal.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
How times have changed since the gpu burning think the flames were gold tinted

 

[dirtyferret]

Game Developer: We are gold baby, hay is in the barn!
Consumers: So they game is ready to play?!
Game Developer: Hell no, expect a huge day one patch followed by a second two days later to fix everything the first patch breaks followed by a third the following week. Then it will be playable...probably!

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Game Developer: We are gold baby, hay is in the barn!
Consumers: So they game is ready to play?!
Game Developer: Hell no, expect a huge day one patch followed by a second two days later to fix everything the first patch breaks followed by a third the following week. Then it will be playable...probably!

I think i mentioned this in another article but it was already in a better state than the majority of games that have released lately during the beta.

Still I fully expect just like with any other online game for the queues to be long on day 1 for the ultimate edition and then again for the standard editions release. Along with the normal worldwide online launch type issues.

 

[dirtyferret]

I think i mentioned this in another article but it was already in a better state than the majority of games that have released lately during the beta.

Still I fully expect just like with any other online game for the queues to be long on day 1 for the ultimate edition and then again for the standard editions release. Along with the normal worldwide online launch type issues.

I have more faith in Blizzard North than other developers but I just find "gone gold" has lust its "luster" in the digital age as opposed to the boxed games of the past

 

[Space Lynx]

I have more faith in Blizzard North than other developers but I just find "gone gold" has lust its "luster" in the digital age as opposed to the boxed games of the past

the good old days are gone indeed.

 

[dirtyferret]

the good old days are gone indeed.

i still remember buying games and having to mail away for the patch to come in 4-6 weeks so it wasn't all good, I just find it funny when companies still announce they have gone gold when you know they are still working on the game. Gone gold should be like chow time, ring the bell and yell "come and get it" for the crowd of people.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

the good old days are gone indeed.

Blame the PC and PC gamers for this.

 

[Space Lynx]

Blame the PC and PC gamers for this.

has nothing to do with that imo. the world has become focused on hyper short term greed due to brain changes from the introduction of the smartphone and faster internet, and algorithms lowering our attention spans.

 

[Darksword]

The demo was fun. I'll purchase it when it's discounted.

 

[RadeonProVega]

Great, now I have to figure out how to survive the next 48 days.. Work? Nah, that would kill me. Wife? Please.. Booze? Maybe, but it's tricky - could overdose and wake up on x-mas.. Doh.

Start playing other MMORPG/action rpgs. Grim Dawn, Fate series RPG by wildtangent, UNDECEMEBER action rpg, Wolcen Lords of Mayhem, and many more. I just started really playing Diablo III(had the game for 3 years now), so I'm good until Diablo IV shows up.

 

[Vayra86]

I don't understand the appeal of the multiplayer in Diablo IV. Single player campaign looks like a blast, but I am not big into endlessly grinding gear.

Never really did multiplayer in ARPGs to begin with, and whenever I did it was 'fun for once'. I prefer setting my own pace and having my own little epeen zone of 'omg its better'.

MP with gear/loot quickly becomes a min-max affair with zero creativity.

Blame the PC and PC gamers for this.

What alternate reality are you in? Its the console invasion that has dumbed down content to fit the mainstream...that primarily plays console-first instead of PC-first genres like RTS, 4X, sims, and even shooters, and emerging subgenres.

The fact you get a low health regeneration bar in shooters is 100% a console influence.
The dumbed down skill trees in RPGs is a console influence.
I can list five or six other arguably negative influences from the console space that have bled over to make gaming bland or simplified.
Along those lines, you get mobile-first games now that double down on simplifying what was already tailored for limited input controls, to fit two thumbs and a touch screen. Info density on console and mobile games is also lower. Some call this innovation... but its truly 'catering to the masses'.

The introduction of the Battle Royale subgenre is a PC influence.
The revival of the space sim, (grand-) Strategy and continued existence of racing and flight sims is a PC influence.
The MOBA is entirely due to PC.
E-Sports popularity is entirely creditable to PC gaming and has also elevated competitive gaming on consoles.
I could continue... again... with more reinforcement of how the PC is always on the edge of innovation.

Despite a relative growth of console and mobile versus PC gamers, decades later you can still play literally everything on the PC, while consoles drip-feed what is actually PC-first content onto their gaming audience. Think Diablo, and Minecraft.

Oh and since the subject is Blizzard, remember this one?

Yeah that's all the PC's fault for sure!
How is Immortal doing anyway, after the initial 'This gamur spent 100k on bullshit' clickbait wave I haven't heard a single thing of it. I certainly haven't heard anyone say its actually fun beyond the initial discovery.

 

[zlobby]

Lol, only because of the many item farms.