Why did the Metacritic user score for ‘Diablo IV’ plunge from 10 to 3?

Diablo IV may have come out swinging as one of this year’s top games, but its first round of updates has alienated massive portions of the franchise’s fanbase. The July 19 patch is an absolute behemoth, and while players were initially excited about the fixes Blizzard Entertainment was pushing through, their joy turned to frustration as they experienced the changes for themselves. Within hours, angry gamers were calling for Blizzard boycotts. The sheer outrage had players flocking to Metacritic to leave 0 star reviews, dropping Diablo IV’s rating from a prestigious 10 to a lowly 3.

Diablo is not a series for the faint-hearted. The franchise has long been known for its heightened difficulty, outrageously powerful bosses, and its incredibly devoted fanbase. Even so, the latest installment has had older gamers — even die-hard fans of the series — struggling to find the time to grind through levels. The patch has all but curtailed these time-starved gamers by nerfing classes and increasing the difficulty level yet again. Sorcerers were hit incredibly hard, with gamers lamenting their build, which, once able to take on several mobs at once – are now relegated to luring enemies to their deaths one at a time. And they aren’t the only class to feel the sting of Blizzard’s patch.

The Barbarian build around Hammer of the Ancients, Necromancer’s Bone Spear, Werewolf Shred for Druids, and the Ice Shard build for Sorcerers have all suffered what appears to be a 10:1 buff/nerf ratio. Each class has different builds they can lean on, of course, but overall players feel Blizzard’s updates were geared toward kneecapping players, and this goes double for Sorcerers – who already felt as though their builds were swimming upriver.

Moreover, the patch has hit the neutral nerfs like Vulnerable, Critical Hit Damage, and Cooldown Reduction. Players took to social media to espouse their discontent, raging against the company for, as they see it, nerfing every stat that was used more than others without understanding why players were leaning so heavily on them. It’s not hard to see how that could suck the life out of any game.

While not every gamer is frustrated by the changes, the casual crowd is feeling pushed out of the community. Diablo builds already require no small amount of research to pull off the proper murder machine, but the latest updates place another barrier in the way of enjoyable gameplay. Blizzard has already rolled back a few of the patch changes — Blizzard has agreed to remove level requirements for World Tiers 3 and 4 — but they have yet to announce when these changes might take place. With so many players rallying against the update online, there is a possibility that Blizzard will work to overhaul more of the latest patch problems, but more than likely the “fixes” will remain, leaving gamers furious — but not enough to drop off now that season 1 has started.