Diablo 4 Season 7’s PTR Running Into Game Breaking Bugs Is Not A Good Sign Ahead Of Path of Exile 2’s Imminent Release

The patch notes for the upcoming 2.1 Public Test Realm, or PTR, have been released by Diablo 4 developers and publisher Blizzard Entertainment. In order to make sure that the new content is balanced, functional, and appropriate, Blizzard uses the PTR to gather Diablo 4-player data and feedback for a brief time prior to the full season launch.

While Diablo 4‘s Season 6 brought some popular additions, Season 7 will be mixing things up again with loads of novel content. The new season is expected to launch sometime in January 2025. However, if the PTR itself is infested with bugs, then how fans are going to interact with the upcoming updates, that too when Path of Exile 2 is right around the corner?

Diablo 4‘s Buggy Season 7 PTR Might Fuel the Excitement Regarding Path of Exile 2

Players are preparing for the upcoming release of Path of Exile 2 due to a significant bug in Diablo 4‘s Season 7 PTR, which is now live. In the last month of 2024, two significant events will cause battle lines to be drawn, turning the game into an ARPG war.

Its main rival, Path of Exile 2, prepares to release its early access offering, giving players a preview of the upcoming content. On the other hand, Diablo 4‘s Season 7 PTR is now live but is riddled with bugs.

PTR offers players a preview of what to expect in the upcoming season, but it is only available for a brief period of time. Because there are so many eagerly awaited games coming up, players may become disinterested if there are bugs that cause the PTR to shut down for 24 hours.

Predictions regarding the outcome of the match between the two titles are already being made. A recent development may support Asmongold’s assertion that Path of Exile 2 would “cannibalize” Diablo 4‘s player base.

Although the Season 7 PTR for Diablo 4 has officially begun, a major bug is causing it to start slowly. Due to problems with Mrak, the NPC that raises PTR characters to their maximum level, Blizzard has been forced to turn off the feature.

Season 7 PTR is live but we will be disabling our boost NPC (Mrak) for the next 24 hrs. We discovered an issue where multiple players interacting w/ Mrak can lead to some behind the scenes issues. We will fix it up and have Mrak re-enabled tomorrow AM.https://t.co/LQvGdqNU3F

— Adam Fletcher (@PezRadar) December 3, 2024

Players are unable to fully test the balance of the updated Skills and Aspects in Diablo 4 Season 7’s endgame because they cannot reach max level quickly. For many, this negates the PTR’s goal.

Will Path of Exile 2 Put the Final Nail in the Coffin for Diablo 4?

With six seasons, one complete expansion, and numerous updates, Diablo 4 was able to resolve nearly every issue that players had with the game. The game released in the summer of the previous year is very different from the one in late 2024 in many aspects.

It was one of the greatest ARPGs before it had to do any of that, though, because even the frequently criticized initial release met everyone’s primary gaming needs.

However, Diablo 4 needs to take a break because Path of Exile 2 appears to be the first game since its release that has a genuine chance of appealing to the game’s casual audience, which consists of most of its players.

Last Epoch’s 1.0 launch occurred earlier this year, during one of Diablo 4‘s most difficult periods since its release but it was alright. The endgame was obviously the main focus for Diablo 4 fans.

It frequently gave the impression that the game went above and beyond to satisfy the needs of its most devoted players, implementing features and finding solutions to issues that most players wouldn’t even recognize as such. It only managed to retain its most devoted players as it came and left.

Diablo 4 will still be a much simpler game than Path of Exile 2. Even though the early access launch build only contains a portion of the core campaign, the developer recently spent more than an hour reviewing features and systems, the majority of which were specifically designed for the endgame.

Diablo 4 Season 7 will premiere in January 2025, but it might have a hard time attracting ARPG fans again since Path of Exile 2 will be available for early access on December 6, 2024. The success of Grinding Gear Games’ response to Diablo 4 will determine everything.

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire