An ancient evil threatens to engulf Sanctuary in darkness, and new heroes have been called upon to face challenges the world has never seen before.

True to the franchise’s roots, Diablo IV will deliver visceral combat, gruesome and varied monsters, an epic hunt for legendary loot, and endless playability and progression. Players will find a lifetime’s worth of adventure scattered across a land rooted in unique ecologies and inhabited by dangerous new foes. They’ll delve into randomized dungeons packed with unpredictable adversaries and unimaginable treasures. While continuing to fully support solo and coordinated party play, Diablo IV will also provide opportunities for groups of players to encounter each other in the same shared world—whether to tackle bigger challenges . . . or possibly even slaughter one another in player-vs.-player combat.

In Diablo IV, players will attempt to bring hope back to the world by vanquishing evil in all its vile incarnations—from cannibalistic demon-worshipping cultists to the all-new drowned undead that emerge from the coastlines to drag their victims to a watery grave. For the first time in the series, Sanctuary will be a contiguous, seamless landmass comprising diverse regions ranging from the burning desert of Kejhistan, to the verdant werewolf-infested forests of Scosglen, to the harsh and rugged wilderness of the Dry Steppes.

A new corruption has emerged in Sanctuary. Diablo IV is a living game that is designed to be evolving and expanding for years to come, and Blizzard is kicking off the start of a long-term content schedule with the very first season of Diablo IV, Season of the Malignant, coming July 20. On the latest livestream, associate game director Joseph Piepiora, lead game producer Timothy Ismay, and associate director of community Adam Fletcher talked about what’s coming this Season, including a brand-new questline with new faces and new enemies, new powers, the first Season Journey, and the first Battle Pass. 

Following the tradition of previous Diablo games, seasons give all players an opportunity to start the Season Journey fresh with the new features and gameplay mechanics that have been added. With everyone on an even playing field, players can try out new classes and builds that they have been curious about—or journey through the season with an established favorite class/build—while engaging in the seasonal mechanics for a new experience. Leveling up a new character doesn’t require starting from scratch, as it brings with it the previous renown gained from discovering the map and the benefits from the Altars of Lilith players have found. If you have the mount unlocked, you will also be able to use it immediately on your new character. After each season concludes, all characters will be migrated to the Eternal Realm, where players will be able to access them permanently.

SEASON 1 DETAILS

• A New Adventure Arrives: A dangerous new threat roams the land in the form of Malignant Monsters. Team up with Cormond, a former priest, to stop the spread of the Malignant at all costs.
• Fight the Infestation: Destroy these Malignant Monsters by drawing the corruption from them and trapping their Malignant Hearts, which can then be inserted into Rings and Amulets.
• No Prior Experience Required: New players will be able to jump into seasonal realms and play through the main campaign as they learn the basics and then go straight into the season content and new systems introduced. They will also be able to progress along parts of the season journey and battle pass as they play. Hardcore players will be able to create new characters and experiment with new builds or classes as they play through the season journey. Seasons add an entirely new way to customize characters and build up their power as they take on end game challenges.
• Season Journey: This multi-chapter objective system rewards players for completing each chapter. With multiple Chapter, you can earn Favor from rewards which will progress the Battle Pass.
• Battle Pass: By earning Favor through regular gameplay or purchasing optional tier skips, players can earn rewards as they complete Battle Pass tiers. The Battle Pass offers a free tier where everyone can earn Season Boosts to accelerate player progress. If a player chooses to purchase the paid tier, they can also earn exclusive Battle Pass cosmetics.

Well met, wanderer.

Corruption has befallen Sanctuary in Season of the Malignant, the first Season of Diablo IV. On July 20 at 10 a.m. PDT, a new Season Journey, Questline, Boss, Dungeons, Battle Pass, and more will go live—we’ll give you a preview below. On July 18, we’ll release another article shedding even more light on what’s coming with the new Season, including 6 new Unique Items and 7 Legendary Aspects.

A deviant form of Lilith’s sinister machinations has given birth to a new threat, Malignant Monsters. These decaying abominations roam Sanctuary in a frenzy, mindlessly attacking anyone in range without hesitation. Wanderers will investigate this mysterious malady in a new Questline with the help of Cormond, a former priest of the Cathedral of Light, who also trains you to capture the Malignant Hearts fueling these foul beasts and convert them into build-altering powers. The malignancy that’s taken hold of the Burning Hells’ armies cannot remain unchecked—you must snuff it out at the source before all of Sanctuary becomes its thrall.

Watch the Season of the Malignant Announce trailer above and steel yourself for the virulent threats that await.

TRANSMUTE MALIGNANCE INTO VENGEANCE

To keep up with the relentless animosity of Malignant Monsters, you’ll need to turn their Hearts against them. Slaying Partly Corrupted enemies, a type of Malignant Monster, will drop a Malignant Heart. These can be captured by performing a ritual with the Cage of Binding, an item acquired during the Season’s Questline. Partly Corrupted enemies are an unruly sort and won’t go down easily. Trying to capture the Heart will cause the Partly Corrupted enemy to be reborn as a Fully Corrupted enemy. If defeated, these amalgamations of rot will drop a version of the Malignant Heart that can be placed into special Infested sockets in your Jewelry in place of a Normal Gem.

Our first season will introduce 32 Malignant Hearts across four categories that provide new, unique bonuses. As you encounter more menacing Malignant Creatures so too will the strength of their Malignant Hearts grow. There’s much more to share on the Season’s theme and we cannot wait to do so in the future.

One of the best places to acquire Malignant Hearts are in the new Malignant Tunnels, highly replayable Dungeons teeming with fearsome foes to eradicate. Scour this dank system of tunnels for the catalyst of Malignant Monsters and go toe-to-toe against Varshan the Consumed, the newest Boss battle, if you dare.

HOW SEASONAL CHARACTERS WORK

With Season of the Malignant beginning on July 20, we wanted to take a moment to equip you with everything you need to know about Seasons.

To participate in Seasons, a new character must be made on the Seasonal Realm. You do not need to purchase a Battle Pass or any add-ons to play the Seasonal content, but you must have completed the campaign on either the Eternal or Seasonal Realm with at least one character. Once you have completed the Campaign, any Seasonal character will start the game with:

• The option to skip the Campaign.
• Your Mount available immediately.
• All previously discovered Altars of Lilith unlocked, and the corresponding Renown for them.
• All previously discovered areas of the map revealed, and the corresponding renown for them.

Once the Season has ended, the character you made and its progress will be transferred to the Eternal Realm. All items you collected, including in your Seasonal stash, will be transferred too. You can take this character into Sanctuary whenever you please, but Season-specific features such as Malignant Hearts will no longer be accessible.

Our Beliefs Behind Seasons

Seasons provide us with an opportunity to introduce innovative gameplay mechanics into Sanctuary for a limited time. Because Seasons reset, we can create crazy, fun Season themes in a vacuum without needing to worry about balancing it with the mechanics introduced in past or future Seasons—we start from a strong Eternal Realm baseline and build on top of it.

Seasons are also a place for players to explore and tinker. We encourage you to try a new Class or different builds for a Class you’ve grown fond of—our Seasons are a chance to get creative while demolishing demons.

Additionally, Seasons present an equal playing field. Our Seasons are designed for new characters to conquer the nightmarish challenges brought on by a Season’s theme and to progress through the Seasonal Journey together.

EARN REWARDS WITH THE SEASON JOURNEY AND BATTLE PASS

As you hunt down Malignant Monsters for their build-enhancing Hearts and partner with Cormond to discover the source of the corruption, you’ll earn rewards from the Season Journey and Battle Pass.

The Season Journey is broken into Chapters with tasks to complete. As you progress through the Journey, you’ll earn rewards befitting Sanctuary’s defender, such as new Legendary Aspects, a Mastery Title, and a Scroll of Amnesia, which provides a free Skill Tree and Paragon Board reset. The Journey also provides Favor—the resource used to climb through the Battle Pass’ Tiers—which is also earned naturally by playing the game, whether it be killing demons, completing Quests, and more.

The Season of the Malignant Battle Pass begins on July 20, 10 a.m. PDT and hosts 90 Tiers, 27 Free Tiers and 63 Premium Tiers. Smoldering Ashes are earned from the Free Tiers, which can be spent on Season Blessings that provide you with a bonus to earning experience, Gold, or Obols depending on the Blessing you choose. The bonuses gained from Season Blessings only last until Season of the Malignant ends.

If you get the Premium Battle Pass, not only will the rewards of the Free Tiers will be yours to wield as you choose, but Awoken Armor Sets, Mount and Mount Armor, Platinum, and more await you!

If you purchased the digital Deluxe or Ultimate Edition of Diablo IV and want to redeem your Battle Pass for this Season, navigate to the Seasons section of the Shop and select the option to activate your Battle Pass. Players also have the option to skip Tiers by spending Platinum at a cost of 200 Platinum per Tier skip. Keep in mind that your Tier Skip might unlock a Tier that rewards Smoldering Ashes, but you must meet certain Character Level requirements to claim them.

ACQUIRE HELLISH NEW LOOKS FROM THE SHOP

We’re dialing up the heat in the Shop with new Equipment, Armor, Accessories, Mount and Mount Armor bundles that will have you slaying in style. Starting on July 20, you’ll want to pay Tejal a visit to browse her wares—remember to check back often as she’ll update her stock throughout Season of the Malignant. One such rarefied find from the far reaches of Sanctuary is the Mother’s Protection collection. It’s pictured above for the Necromancer, but there’s a unique look for each Class.

Diablo IV is being developed using modern technology that pushes the franchise to dark, new depths. This technology is at the heart of everything players will see, hear, and feel—delivering much higher fidelity and a more engrossing experience. It opens up countless possibilities for the Diablo series, from smooth character animations, such as the Druid’s fluid shapeshifting, to the seamless, vast overworld players will travel across in search of the next loot-filled underground dungeon. Ultimately, Diablo IV will ground players in a grittier and deadlier world.

Diablo IV is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.