Does it Pay to Pay-to-Win in Diablo Immortal? Not Always.

Pay-to-Win in Diablo Immortal

Diablo Immortal – or, more specifically, one Diablo Immortal whale* – has reached an inevitable stumbling block that is hard to sympathize with. With controversies still surrounding the Blizzard app game’s monetization model, it has become apparent that paying to win in Diablo Immortal…doesn’t actually pay. At least, not at its most extreme level. 

In a viral video posted by Diablo Immortal player and YouTuber jtisallbusiness, the consequence of paying to win in Diablo Immortal in order to stomp the “competition” has reared its ugly head. And we’re not just talking about his Barbarian’s ghastly outfit. 

After sinking $100,000 (yes, you read that correctly) on making the character as powerful and unbeatable as humanly possible, jtisallbusiness soon found that he was trouncing all other players in Diablo Immortal’s PvP Battleground. 

As is typically the case in PvP games, this made his challenge rating skyrocket, with the matchmaking system causing him to climb through the ranks of the “best” players in the game. However, many matches (and $100k) later, he reached a ceiling, with the matchmaking system now failing to find anyone that can match his “skill level” and ergo leaving him out in the cold when queuing for a Battleground. He even stated in the video that he can spend “somewhere around 48 to 72 hours somewhere in between that of only trying to queue for a Battleground and never being able to get one.”

If the goal of spending so much was to be the most unbeatable character on the server – then it’s obviously mission accomplished for jtisallbusiness. Because if the app game’s matchmaking system can’t find an opponent strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the decked-out Barbarian, then it surely stands to reason that he is the most powerful foe in all the land.

However, Diablo Immortal’s Right of Exile event requires that Clans (AKA ‘Guilds’) maintain their top spot by routinely finishing top-of-the-class in Battlegrounds. A feat that’s difficult to manage when you’re essentially locked out of them entirely. And with his fellow clan-mates also being happy to drop a pretty penny or two on their own characters, it might only be a matter of time before their top spot is clinched by a clan comprising smaller whales or, dare we say it, even skilled F2P players. 

Either way, these are some interesting consequences of paying to win in Diablo Immortal. The fact is that this whale has been cheated out of what they’ve paid for and should probably receive the refund they’re seeking. But the alternative is having a P2W behemoth simply laying waste to the minnows and pricing everyone else out of playing the game themselves. 

* A “whale” in gaming, especially app gaming, is a player who spends a great amount on in-app purchases. F2P games often make the majority of their revenue through these “whale” players even though there are just a few of them per game.