The Diablo 4 PTR is coming back for Season 5, and we're gonna find out why this Friday

Loot Reborn may be one of Diablo 4’s most successful seasons yet. It’s largely been well-received by players. Though it doesn’t bring any major new content to the game, the systemic and mechanical changes it implemented have clearly made players stick around for longer.

Part of that success is owed to the Public Test Realm (PTR), which Blizzard brought to Diablo 4 for the first time prior to the launch of Season 4. And, it looks like the developer wants to do the same with Season 5.

When the Season 4 PTR concluded, Blizzard said we shouldn’t expect every new season to be preceded by a PTR. This is all well and good, but it seems Season 5 brings enough changes to warrant the return of the test environment.

The developer confirmed that the PTR will open its doors again before the launch of Season 5. This Friday, June 21, we’re going to find out why as part of a Campfire Chat. Apparently, the original plan was to release the Season 4 mid-season update after the S5 PTR had closed, but given that the build would’ve had some of those changes anyway, it made sense to release them now so that players don’t feel their absence.

This also makes it easier to focus on testing whatever specific changes Blizzard wants feedback on prior to the launch of Season 5. The upcoming season is supposed to be shorter, too, running less than the 12-week standard to allow Season 6 to launch with the Vessel of Hatred expansion.

Before the Friday stream, the Season 4 mid-season update (1.4.3) will be out, likely tomorrow as of this writing. Patch notes have already been published, and it looks like Blizzard has buffed some of the least-performant builds alongside a few class skills. The developer said it’s happy with the current state of the game, which is why the patch will be a little light on major changes.