Summary
- Diablo 4's main menu had a bug with its Breaking News tab, which literally broke and displayed an HTML error, to fans' amusement.
- Diablo 4's upcoming Season of Blood brings quality-of-life features and rebalanced damage, addressing some of the game's shortcomings since its launch.
- Season 2 of Diablo 4, which boasts a vampiric theme and new bosses, aims to attract players back after a decline in viewership and popularity.
As Diablo 4 sets the stage for the Season of Blood, the game's main menu seems to have a rather ironic bug with its Breaking News tab. With the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard complete, it's a new day for the company that created the hack-and-slash RPG genre. In an attempt to recapture the magic of Diablo 2, the latest entry in the Diablo franchise tried to balance modern trends with the tried-and-true features that made Lord of Destruction so addictive in its heyday.
If Diablo fans were asked whether Blizzard accomplished that vision, many would say no, but the game is still young, and Diablo 4's Season of Blood represents a major step towards fixing its biggest shortcomings thus far. While it does not completely overhaul the itemization system, Season 2 brings many quality-of-life features that Diablo 4 players clamored for since beta. Damage has been rebalanced, and the resistance overhaul should make the attribute more favorable as a defensive option.
While announcements for a scheduled maintenance or the release date for the upcoming Season can usually be seen on the Breaking News tab, Diablo 4's main menu had a slight malfunction where the news quite literally broke. An HTML error ruined the tab's display, prompting divedev to share the incident with other Diablo 4 players on the game's official subreddit. In the grand scheme of things, a negligible bug such as this was taken in a lighthearted way by the majority of fans, and many have found the situation somewhat charming.
Though it remains to be seen what caused the display to break in the first place, console players have reported that Diablo 4's Breaking News tab stops working if the application isn't force-closed after a while. With Season of Blood releasing on October 17, the game should receive a fair bit of its players back, as viewership and overall popularity for Diablo 4 dropped significantly since launch. The vampiric theme of the Season may not necessarily be enough to win them back, but it will also introduce several new bosses to Diablo 4's endgame, offering an option for players to hunt for Uber Uniques by taking on Uber Duriel.
Ultimately, it's expected that BlizzCon 2023 will provide fans plenty of information on the future of Diablo 4, as its two announced expansions are still on schedule to release in the coming years. While Diablo 4 had a rough launch, it was still a successful title for Blizzard from a commercial standpoint, and if its predecessor's trajectory is anything to go by, the developers still have a chance to course-correct.
Diablo 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.