Russian and Belarusian account holders will not be able to purchase and install Diablo IV. The company doesn't know if the ban will be temporary or permanent, Blizzard's support team, which releases the game, told DTF. The release is scheduled for June 6, 2023.
The next part of the popular game from Blizzard will offer crossplay (PC, PlayStation and Xbox owners can play with each other) and the option of co-op on the same console. The game will have five classes of heroes (Druid, Rogue, Sorceress, Barbarian and Necromancer) and over 140 dungeons.
Diablo IV could be gifted to Russian or Belarusian players with a foreign account, but whether this option will continue after the introduction of new restrictions is still unknown, DTF notes.
Blizzard suspended sales in Russia and Belarus in early March. On November 11, Izvestia reported that the State Duma intends to ban dozens of computer games that, according to deputies, contain "LGBT propaganda."
The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education, Yana Lantratova, prepared the relevant amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses. It is proposed to punish individuals with a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles, officials – up to 400, legal entities – up to 4 million. Lantratova believes that it is necessary to ban "propaganda of non-traditional values and the desire to change sex in this segment of entertainment."
According to the deputy, there is LGBT “propaganda” in Inquisition, Assassin's Creed, Syndicate, Borderlands, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Life Is Strange, The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Part 2, Fallout, Apex Legends, RimWorld, Overwatch.