You can earn Diablo 4's premium currency in the battle pass, but not enough to buy the next one
The first Diablo 4 battle pass is going to implement a popular bonus, but it's not taking it all the way.
There is a lot riding on the launch of the first Diablo 4 season. Unlike the old style of Diablo seasons, Season of the Malignant will introduce a more traditional battle pass, new content, new items and the sort of content drop you expect from Call of Duty, Fortnite etc.
Well, maybe not that much content, but this is still a style of season and battle pass modern players are familiar with from all the other major live service games. That comes with expectations, of course, and the ability to earn premium currency as part of the battle pass is one such reward many expect to see.
In Call of Duty's case - another Activision Blizzard game - by finishing all tiers of the battle pass, players earn enough premium currency to purchase the next one. Considering how much of Diablo 4's monetisation was modelled after Call of Duty, you'd expect the same to be true here as well.
Unfortunately, that won't be the case. Blizzard has confirmed in a Forbes interview that the Season 1 battle pass does include some Platinum - the game's paid currency - but not enough to purchase the next one.
This is interesting, as the Season of the Malignant battle pass will be players' first opportunity to get Platinum anywhere outside of buying it.
With that said, Diablo 4 is not the first game to include some of its premium currency in the battle pass, but not enough to afford the next one. Fortnite, for instance, does the same thing, but you could argue that Fortnite's battle pass offers more value for the money.
Indeed, Blizzard is aware that Season of the Malignant's content might appear a little slim, as it was built right alongside the game. Future seasons will be more interesting in that regard, but we're obviously going to need to see them for ourselves before we can judge that claim.
Season of the Malignant kicks off July 20, and will last for 12 weeks. Blizzard believes there's more than enough time for even casual players to finish the battle pass. While everyone will need to start a new character to experience seasonal content, there are things you can do today to start the season off with a major power boost.