This is plain irrational, people are buying this game at a faster pace than ever despite this shit costing 70$, but still charging up to 28$ for one single cosmetic set exclusive to a fucking cash shop, plus a fucking battle-pass. I’ve never been a fan of the series in fact I never played Diablo III so I can’t relate but still, Blizzard got into the brain of their clients with this shit it’s just fucked up. It’s not rational, consumerism at this level can’t just be a trick that is played on their brains by clever marketing teams, it’s deeper than that. People are being broken, their wits have been altered. There is something about impulse control that was removed from their abilities. No ableism intended, people with disorders need respect and care. I think that capitalism is responsible for damaging people mentally, those people are victims and need help.
End of rant.
I paid 90$ for D3 (base game + expansions later), from 2012 to 2023, got thousands of hours from it. There’s really no competition for Diablo 4 beside POE2 (not released yet), POE is not as polished and new, so as long as Diablo 4 base game is solid + there’s certainty in continuing supports then people will pay for it. I haven’t bought D4 though.
Also, we have mobile games + gachas in Asia so it’s more of the industry thing.