After Season 4 arrived with many changes, lots of Diablo 4 players have come back to the game, and it has become very popular on Steam. The new season, called Season 4: Loot Reborn, has been mostly successful, with many players happy with Blizzard’s updates.
Unlike the less popular Season 3, Blizzard took extra time to get feedback from players before starting Season 4. They tested new features, like improved crafting and item systems, and updated Helltides.
These positive changes have made many players feel that the game is now much better. Because of these improvements, Diablo 4 has seen a big increase in players on Steam.
Diablo 4 Season 4 Loot Reborn guide
When Blizzard released Diablo III in May 2012, the game had many problems. The servers were overloaded, which made players very angry. The game was also very unbalanced, with only a few classes being good for the end game.
The real-money marketplace hurt the game community. Diablo IV had similar problems but not as bad. The game was in better shape, and people who played Diablo III at launch knew that Blizzard would likely fix the game after getting player feedback.
Season 4: Loot Reborn will change way you slay in #DiabloIV.
We asked Franchise Manager @RodFergusson and Art Director @johnmuellerart to summarize the season as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/7V2Rkm3Sjn
— Diablo (@Diablo) May 6, 2024
Even though I enjoyed Diablo IV before it was officially released, I knew it would take months or even a year for Blizzard to make improvements. Diablo IV Season 4: Loot Reborn is a big step in the right direction.
For those who don’t know about these changes, either because they weren’t interested in Diablo IV before or stopped playing after launch, Blizzard has completely changed how items and systems work. I was one of those who lost interest and went back to playing Diablo III.
Now, Blizzard has made it easier to get Codices, which are passive abilities from gear that all characters on your account can use. Some passives are still tied to Dungeons, but now you only need to do them once per Season instead of once per character. This is a huge improvement.
Season 4 also added Affixes through Tempering. These are extra attributes you can add to your weapons, like increasing damage to specific skills or boosting elemental resistances. Masterworking items is another new feature that makes your gear even stronger.
There is a lot to explore, and although Diablo IV still lacks some features from Diablo III, like saving gear sets, the improvements are significant.
One of the best updates, in my opinion, made the Necromancer class much more fun to play. Before, the Necromancer’s minions felt weak, but now I can summon a horde of skeletons and easily handle Helltides and Rifts. I love playing Necromancer so much that I stopped playing my Rogue.
A friend of mine who plays as a Barbarian also loved the changes, which made their build more effective. This season, Blizzard has focused on making players feel powerful rather than weakening them.
Everything is fun now. Helltides, Rifts, and even leveling up are exciting because it’s faster, and rare items drop more often. Season 4 started on May 15, 2024, and I’ve already completed my Battle Pass with over twenty hours played on my Seasonal character.
I had so much fun that I used the currency from previous Battle Passes to get a skin for my Necromancer. I hope Blizzard continues this path with Diablo IV, keeping characters strong and item drops plentiful because it would be a shame to step back from this when Diablo IV is in its best state since launch.
What These Diablo 4 Steam Player Numbers Mean?
According to SteamDB, Diablo 4 reached its highest number of players ever after the launch of Season 4: Loot Reborn. Over the weekend, the Steam version of Diablo 4 had 29,035 players playing at the same time, breaking the previous record of 28,836 players. What’s even more impressive is that many players have continued to play beyond the launch of Season 4.
While these numbers are impressive for Steam, they are likely only a small part of the total number of players because Diablo 4 is also available on consoles and Game Pass. When Diablo 4 first launched in June 2023, it was only available for PC players through Battle.net.
The game then launched on Steam a few months later in October. Some players might have switched to Steam, but it is likely that Battle.net still has more players since it was the only place to play for a few months.
Even though most players are happy with the changes Blizzard has made, not everything has gone perfectly. Some players have found unfinished items in the game, like a unique amulet called Eye of the Depths that had “WIP” (work in progress) and “TBD” (to be determined) in its description.
Diablo 4 Season 4: Loot Reborn Spurs 212% Player Growth on PS5 and PS4
Using data from over 3.1 million active PSN accounts (thanks to our partnership with GameInsights), we’ve seen a big increase in the number of PS5 and PS4 players starting up Diablo IV recently.
During the week ending Sunday, May 19, 2024, Diablo 4 saw a 212.7% increase in PS5 and PS4 players after the free Loot Reborn update came out on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
A week earlier, Diablo 4 was in the 52nd spot on our weekly popular PlayStation Chart, meaning it had fewer players than games like Rise of the Ronin and Battlefield 2042. After the Loot Reborn update, Diablo 4 moved up to the 17th spot, becoming more popular than games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Genshin Impact.
The last time Diablo 4 had a big increase in players was during the launch of Season of Blood in October 2023. Before that, the game lost many players after the unpopular Season of the Malignant in July 2023, which introduced a disliked Battle Pass and content that caused player burnout.
By the time Season of Blood launched in October, Diablo 4 had lost 80.76% of its player base. Season of Blood brought a 104.48% increase in players, but they quickly stopped playing. The next update, Season of the Construct, came out in January 2024 and brought back 76.91% more players.
Loot Reborn has brought the biggest increase in players on PS5 and PS4 so far. This is likely because of the new season’s promises: easier item management, better loot distribution, and changes to make getting powerful items more reliable. These improvements should make the game more fun and less frustrating to play.