Diablo 4’s first-ever expansion,Vesselof Hatred, had a disastrous release last night, ending in a delayed launch time and a review bombing campaign on Steam. Revealed at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live back in August,Vessel of Hatredis an expansion forDiablo 4- much bigger than a typical seasonal content update, it includes a new map, new campaign chapters, and anew playable class.
Suffice it to say that large swathes of players were excited for this next chapter ofDiablo 4. But just an hour and a half before launch,Diablo’s Global Director of Community,Adam Fletcher, posted to X (formerly Twitter) that there was an ongoing issue, andthatVessel of Hatredwould be briefly delayed. At the original launch time, all further logins were prevented, and players already online would be booted from servers shortly after.
Many still logged on at the appointed launch time to find that they couldn’t access the game’s servers. Blizzard was quick to acknowledge the issue and announce a delay, but lockouts persisted for a few hours, and many players responded negatively. So what exactly happened, and why does it matter for the future ofDiablo 4?
What Happened With Vessel Of Hatred’s Launch?
Why Diablo 4’s Expansion Was Delayed
While neither Adam Fletcher nor anyone else at Blizzard gave an official reason forVessel of Hatred’s sudden delay,there was likely an issue with the expansion that was only detected during last-minute quality assurance checks.Diablo 4’s team decided to delay the update until it could resolve the issue and conduct additional QA checks, to ensure that the resulting release didn’t create bigger problems, like bringing down the entire game or corrupting players' accounts. They announced that players who bought the game through Battle.net would have to download an additional, sizeable update alongside the DLC to make the expansion work.
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Overall,the delay pushedVessel of Hatred’s release roughly five hours backfromits 7 PM Eastern Time goal: Battle.net players were able to download the necessary update and launchDiablo 4just before midnight, and players on all other platforms just after. Still, many players still had to wait hours to download the update, and other reported being unable to access the DLC orthe new Spiritborn classeven after it was installed. All major issues appear to be resolved by the time of writing, but the damage is done. Reddit commenterdomiranproposed some suggestions in a thread about the delay.
They believe that, since the additional patch players were required to download was about the same size as the original patch players were able to pre-download beforeVessel of Hatred’s planned launch,there was some critical error in the update filesspecifically. This would likely have caused bigger issues if it were released, so Blizzard opted instead to hold off on the update until everything was fixed. Unfortunately,this did lead to a spate of negative reviews on Steam, in which (mostly uninformed) players complained of errors that prevented them from openingDiablo 4at the appointed launch time.
Why It Matters For Diablo Fans
Vessel Of Hatred’s Messy Launch Is Disappointing
Any game delay is expected to provoke a few hurt feelings, especially when it’s pay-to-play, butVessel of Hatred’s sudden delay has met with unusually vitriolic backlash. That’s mainly because inDiablo 4, time is money - or more accurately, time is skill points.Diablo 4is all about assembling unique,often overpowered character builds. However, the time players have to do so is strictly limited, as the game’s servers reset completely and all character progress begins anew every few months with the launch of a new season.
Characters can be saved to the Eternal Realm after each season ends, but those characters will no longer be able to access seasonal content.
So many players will jump into a new season as soon as it’s launched - it’s not uncommon to hear tell of people arranging for time off work, or staying up into the wee hours to get a head start onnewDiablocontent.Many players are simply upset because the sudden delay ruined their plans, and caused them to lose valuable timein the expansion.
Still, it’s worth noting that Blizzard’s response to theVessel of Hatreddelay was measured, mature, and careful. It took the review and reputational hit to ensure that it delivered a safe product in the end, without any lasting issues. TheVessel of Hatreddelay was disappointing, sure, but its honesty suggestsDiablo 4is in good hands.
