Diablo 4 Season 8 Virtual Currency: EU Guidelines Will Impact It

Although Diablo 4 can be considered a stand-alone game, it can actually be played online and has some in-game transactions. The developers have made a lot of money from players through the battle pass, limited-time skins, and mounts launched each season. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call this game a “semi-stand-alone game”.

However, this part of the transaction is not transparent to players because these developers deliberately confuse their value, making it difficult for players to figure out how much money they have wasted on these contents.

Recently, Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) coordinated with European Commission to publish a set of guidelines specifically for virtual currencies in games, with the aim of protecting children and people who are susceptible to gambling temptations, as well as providing a more transparent player experience and complying with EU consumer protection laws. The virtual currency here does not refer to in-game currencies such as Diablo 4 gold or POE 2 currency, but refers to currencies such as FIFA 25 Points and Diablo 4 Platinum.

In-Game Virtual Currency Principles

CPC Network lists the following non-exhaustive key principles that CPC expects video game companies and gambling operators to follow when offering in-game virtual currency:

• 1. Product value display should be clear and transparent.
• 2. Practices that conceal the cash required for in-game digital content and services should be avoided.
• 3. Practices that force consumers to redeem unwanted in-game virtual currency should be avoided.
• 4. Consumers should be provided with clear and understandable pre-contract information.
• 5. Consumers’ right of withdrawal should be respected.
• 6. Contract terms should be fair and written in simple and clear language.
• 7. Game design and gameplay should respect different consumer vulnerabilities.

These terms are intended to make the value of in-game virtual items more intuitive and understandable, and also to prevent developers from secretly manipulating and inflating the value of virtual items. And players as consumers have a right of withdrawal.

These provisions are not laws, but a set of guidelines agreed upon by national authorities within the alliance that regulate gambling activities. This means that if a gaming company does not follow these guidelines, anyone who sues the company will have the support of national authorities and is likely to win. So the effect is immediate.

Will Diablo 4 Be Affected?

Undoubtedly, yes! Aside from the transactions between Diablo players, the game publisher has also introduced a currency called Platinum in the game. It is different from Diablo 4 Gold. It is a “premium currency” specifically used to unlock passes or limited skins.

For example, it takes 1,000 Platinum to unlock a season pass, which is about 10USD, but the developers of Diablo 4 will not show you this when you intend to unlock the pass.

And this is exactly the opacity that CPC wants to eliminate. Game developers must clearly mark the value of their virtual products. And because of the existence of this clause, “Should avoid forcing consumers to invest in unwanted game virtual currency.” Players will be able to unlock these in-game contents directly with cash, rather than exchanging cash for Platinum in the game and then using them to unlock in-game virtual items.

The key point of virtual currency is that it can distinguish the value you actually get from the amount you have to use. Since digital assets can be freely distributed, while companies benefit from people using currency for short-term consumption, they actually prefer you to use and recharge virtual currency as much as possible because this is the driver of their ongoing revenue. Therefore, people not making frequent consumption and becoming conservative with virtual currency will hurt the revenue of game publishers.

These provisions will effectively combat situations where in-game items cost $6 to unlock, but you can only redeem $5 of virtual currency. Diablo 4 often faces this problem in Platinum, where the 1,000 Platinum pack is too little to unlock most skins, but the 2,800 Platinum pack will leave some Platinum to entice players to continue consumption to “not waste”. In other words, this clause will combat the practice of game developers forcing consumers to consume.

What Should Diablo 4 Do?

In order for game publishers to avoid being investigated by state laws due to Consumer Protection Act, any electronic games or other content released should be reviewed and modified if necessary. These new key principles will bring significant changes to many existing games because they target practices that are currently common in the market.

If the developers of Diablo 4 fail to complete the review and transformation in time, they may face a fine of up to 4% of their annual turnover.

In any case, this is a good thing for players. This new clause does not affect the exchange of Diablo 4 Gold and items between players, but mainly targets the publishers of the game. Currencies such as Platinum will not disappear in a short time, because the value of these virtual currencies is not fixed and can be manipulated by game developers at will. However, publishers, including Diablo 4, should mark the real product value below the virtual items.

If this policy is implemented smoothly, we can predict that other game manufacturers, including Diablo 4 developers, will use the trick of “using virtual currency is more favorable than using real money” to attract players to exchange their virtual currency with real money.

The actual results of these new guidelines remain to be seen. All companies need some time to adjust, and the changes should happen in the next period. Perhaps we will see these changes in Season 8. Although this only applies to players in Europe, once there is a clear and mature set of rules regarding in-game virtual items, it will be beneficial to all consumers.