Blizzard has made something of a surprise announcement: the developer is almost ready to talk about Diablo 4’s next season. The fact that we’re getting information ahead of time isn’t surprising, it’s just how far off from the season it’s dropping that’s a little unusual.
Season 8: Belial’s Return is nowhere near over, but Blizzard has confirmed that it will soon be soliciting player feedback as part of the next season’s PTR.
The patch 2.3.0 PTR (Public Test Realm) is close enough, it seems, that Blizzard wants to tell players what it’s planning to change, and how they can get involved. This next update is a major one, and will arrive with Season 9, not before.
Season 8: Belial’s Return arrived alongside patch 2.2.0, which had its own PTR in March, just a few weeks before the season kicked off for everyone in the live game. Likewise, the Season 9 PTR will show off patch 2.3.0 ahead of its launch, and Blizzard revealed that it’ll talk all about it in an upcoming Campfire Chat.
The developer livestream is scheduled for Thursday, May 22 at 11am PT, 2pm ET, 7pm UK. As you might expect, it will serve as a preview of what to expect from the PTR. The test will, yet again, only be available on PC through Battlenet.
Outside of the major changes arriving with 2.3.0, the show will also detail the Dungeon Escalation activity debuting with Season 9. You’ll be able to watch it live on Diablo’s official channels on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok.
Diablo 4 seasons typically run longer than the ones in most live games, but it does look like Season 8 will be shorter than usual. For one, the recently-published Diablo 4 roadmap shows Season 9 in the July-September section. Interestingly, Diablo 4 does not currently say when the current season will end in game, as we’ve come to expect.
However, the much derided Reliquaries battle pass system, which debuted with Season 8, does list the number of days left to acquire its contents. As of this writing, it suggests a July 1 start date for Season 9, which would line up with the roadmap.
This could explain why we’re getting news of next season’s PTR this early, but we also shouldn’t ignore how much Season 8 is being dragged through the mud by many in the Diablo 4 community. It’s clear Blizzard wants to shift player attention to something other than the current season, which no doubt contributed to the scheduling decision.
