Because of this, whales can push huge amounts of revenue into a game built around with microtransactions, even if they only make up a small portion of a title's demographic. Used in a variety of financial contexts, 'whales' refer to extremely affluent individuals who have the propensity to spend huge amounts of money. This sizable stream of revenue in such a short period of time gives credence to the fact that a dedicated playerbase remains for the title, with a subsection of this playerbase spending huge amounts of money.

That being said, the remaining playerbase and profits that Diablo Immortal boasts suggest that the game remains appealing for a specific demographic of players.ĭespite the vocal criticism of the game's microtransactions, Diablo Immortal recently surpassed $100 million in sales on mobile devices alone. With some players calculating that it can cost up to $110,000 to fully level up gear in Diablo Immortal, it is clear why the game has developed a negative reputation for the sheer extent of its microtransaction business model. These loot boxes typify what is wrong with Diablo Immortal for many fans, as they are the only way to obtain legendary-tier gems without putting in a truly hefty amount of in-game hours. The game additionally offers loot boxes that contain items that cannot be easily found via organic gameplay. With the free-to-play gameplay being cited by many as a time-consuming and monotonous grind, players are pushed towards buying in-game items such as buffs and modifiers.

The primary source of controversy surrounding Diablo Immortal's microtransactions stems from how in-game payments are essentially required to reach the highest power levels within the title.

Diablo immortals controversy