You'll need to create a new Diablo 4 character with every Battle Pass to level it up

Diablo 4 pre-order rewards — (Image credit: Blizzard)

You'll need to create a new character to level up every seasonal Diablo 4 Battle Pass.

There's been a fair bit of confusion around the subject of seasonal Battle Passes from newcomers to the Diablo series, and general manager Rod Fergusson stepped in to clear up the confusion. Fergusson confirms that yes, you will need to create an entirely new character when each new season launches in Diablo 4, if you want to level up the season-specific Battle Pass.

Hey Paul, yes to take part in the seasonal questline, mechanics, season journey and battle pass, you will need to create a new seasonal character. Playing campaign with seasonal character (if you so desire or need to finish) will also progress the season journey and battle pass.June 19, 2023

This might be familiar to Diablo veterans, but it'll likely come as a big surprise to anyone new to the series with Diablo 4. Starting another character over from scratch just to level up a seasonal Battle Pass is unheard of in other seasonal games like Destiny 2 for example, so there'll no doubt be plenty out there caught off guard by the comments.

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Fergusson's comments aren't being received overly well on Twitter. "There is no way this is going to fly with most of the player base. Hope you've got a Plan B for when MAUs drop 90%," writes one Twitter user, adding that the vast majority of Diablo 4's player base will very likely "have no idea this is going to happen."

"I was going to continue leveling my character tonight. (Only at 53) but this really demotivates me from playing. I play a lot of destiny and I just don’t have the drive to start over for seasonal content," adds another Twitter user, thinking along a similar line.

Meanwhile, another user rightly points out that other games like Fortnite have you start over from level zero with their seasonal Battle Passes. Others say this isn't a fair comparison though, given how you're creating an entirely new character in Diablo 4, and effectively replaying stuff you've already completed once.

Whatever the case, it sounds like Blizzard needs to properly communicate this with the Diablo 4 player base before the debut season arrives. It says quite a lot that even some Diablo veterans think the majority of players will be caught off guard by the news.

Check out our Diablo 4 Sorcerer builds guide for a look at creating the most powerful character in the most popular class.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.