Diablo IV's Limited Collector Edition Box Comes Without the Game

In a world where the absurd inches ever closer to becoming the norm, Diablo IV’s physical collector’s box will not include the game itself among the cool vanity items stashed within. Let’s… unpack that for a second, and we’ll look at the digital pre-purchase options as well.

What’s in the Limited Collector’s Box?

In a fitting choice of name, the box is limited both in terms of how many will be produced, as well as what it will contain (not the game). The box will be available for pre-order starting December 15th on the Blizzard Gear Store, so we don’t have a price for it yet, but we can safely assume it’ll be over 100 bucks. Consider that the basic edition of Diablo IV is going to cost $70, and the game includes both a battle pass system and other microtransactions.

The collector’s box (pictured below) contains the following:

Candle of Creation (consumable item)
Cloth Map of Sanctuary
Diablo IV Collector’s Edition Art Book
Occult Mousepad
Pin of the Horadrim
Two Matted FIne Art Prints Sized 18.54″ x 10.79″

There’s also what looks to be a PC skin (?) in the picture, but that’s likely to just be how the box itself looks on the outside.

Aight, What About the Rest?

The game itself can be pre-ordered in three digital varieties:

Standard, at $70.
Deluxe, at $90.
Ultimate, at $100.

Here’s what each version comes with:

Item	Standard	Deluxe	Ultimate
The game itself, finally	X	X	X
Open Beta Early Access	X	X	X
Light Bearer Mount (Diablo IV)	X	X	X
Inarius Wings & Inarius Murloc Pet (D3)	X	X	X
Amalgam of Rage Mount (WoW)	X	X	X
Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetics Set (D: Immortal)	X	X	X
Up to 4 Days Early Access to Diablo IV		X	X
Temptation Mount (Diablo IV)		X	X
Hellborn Carapace Mount Armor (Diablo IV)		X	X
Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock		X
Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock (20 Tier skips)			X
Wings of the Creator Emote			X

As we can see, the Ultimate edition is really just a battle pass boost and what is likely to be a fairly infrequently-used emote, given how a hack & slash game tends to keep you killing monsters most of the time instead of hanging around towns and dancing with other players.

Now, we can probably assume the battle pass is going to cost $20 or so (most battle passed are between $15-20), so if you’re planning to do the battle pass grind, you’re better off just buying the Deluxe edition from the get-go. We’d advise against buying the Ultimate edition, as generally you only need the 20 tier skips if you’ve barely got any time to play.

Additionally, we’d hold up on buying the game until the open beta starts; it’s important to get a good idea of what Diablo IV is going to be like, especially if you’re a hack & slash veteran. By the looks of it, it’ll play and feel quite differently to current industry classics like Path of Exile. While we haven’t delved into the game ourselves yet, it looks to be a hack & slash with quite a few MMO designs put into place.

Overall, things are looking a bit suspicious for Diablo IV in terms of pricing. You’ve got the collector’s edition which comes without the game it’s made for, and the Ultimate edition which seems to be a bit of wallet bait, all compounded by the fact that the game costs $10 more than what you’d expect from a AAA and it includes battle passes and microtransactions. The monetization is very heavy in this one, folks.

What are your thoughts – separating your opinion of the game from the awesome CGI trailer revealed at The Game Awards – on Diablo IV and its pricing? Let us know in the comments below!