Summary
Diablo 4is settling into the game’s first season, with plenty more content coming later down the road. Given how early it is in the game’s post-launch life cycle, it’s hard to speculate what the future ofDiablo 4has in store for players. Alongside paid expansions and seasons,Diablo 4also has the opportunity to release new series of Twitch drops, among other highly requested features. While the future ofDiablo 4’s Twitch drops is also uncertain for the time being, going forward it might be best forDiablo 4to learn fromOverwatch 2’s approach to this.
WhenDiablo 4first launched it released a series of unique rewards for viewers to collect after watching eligibleDiablo 4Twitch streamerslong enough to earn each reward. This first series ofDiablo 4Twitch drops were spread out across four weeks and offered transmog skins for each of the playable characters at the time. In addition to rewarding viewers for watching community Twitch streamers playDiablo 4, there was also a unique mount that players could earn in-game by gifting subscriptions to other viewers. Since these first few weeks,Diablo 4has yet to offer another round of Twitch drops, and there haven’t been any official announcements on whether Twitch drops will return either.
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Diablo 4 Should Continue to Offer More Twitch Drops
Since there haven’t been any newDiablo 4Twitch drops, streamers are currently facing indirect consequences, like decreased viewership and engagement. Not to mention, without the incentive that Twitch drops bring to streamers, it can ultimately be a slippery slope for streamers to continue playingDiablo 4compared to other games that are potentially more lucrative. Twitch drops are a win-win for the community since they encourage content creators to experience the game while also encouraging viewers to tune into these streams, so overall it is motivating more community engagement with the game.
The first series ofDiablo 4Twitch drops were purelycosmetic transmog items, although they were a pleasant treat throughout the community, which begs the question of why a new series of drops haven’t been released yet. Given how unique the first series ofDiablo 4’s Twitch rewards are, this approach to Twitch drops may have been too ambitious for its own good. Regardless of speculating why Blizzard may not have released a new series of Twitch drops by now, perhaps it’s still time for a change, andOverwatch 2could prove to be a good example to learn from.
Overwatch 2has had many different series of Twitch drops released, which further highlights how unusual it is forDiablo 4to only have one series so far, along with the current downtime where no Twitch drops are available. There have been emotes, weapon charms and even legendary skins inOverwatch 2’s Twitch drops,among other items, although the latest series of rewards have taken to offering Battle Pass tier-skips. These relatively newOverwatch 2Twitch drops are a timeless way to keep the community engaged with content creators thatDiablo 4is currently missing out on.
WithDiablo 4’s first season launching without introducing a new series of Twitch drops, this is somewhat of a cause for concern, especially since there aren’t any signs of Twitch drops returning to the game for the foreseeable future. By adoptingOverwatch 2’s approach to Twitch drops,Diablo 4could potentially prevent periods of downtime like the one that players and streamers are currently experiencing. In addition to offering rewards that tie intofutureDiablo 4seasons, there’s no reason that unique items couldn’t come back as rewards as well on special occasions. WhetherDiablo 4follows inOverwatch 2’s footsteps for Twitch drop rewards or walks its own path, it shouldn’t leave Twitch in limbo.
Diablo 4is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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