After a lot of work and years of waiting, Blizzard’s massively popular loot-filled action RPG Diablo 4 is officially making its way to China next month. But, due to various regulations in the country regarding the depiction of corpses and supernatural elements, blood and other elements like a big ol’ skeleton boss won’t be featured in the localized version of Diablo 4.
In July, Diablo 4 was one of the few foreign games officially approved by China’s National Press and Publication Administration for launch in the country. Since then, players have wondered what changes would be made to the game, which features a lot of skeletons, dead bodies, zombies, and gore. Now, via a free early trial available to players who pre-registered to play Diablo 4, we have our first look at some of the changes Blizzard has made to get the game published in China.
As reported by WOWHead on November 10, one of the biggest and most noticeable changes is that in China, Diablo IV doesn’t feature any blood. Instead, blood is replaced with a brown, transparent dust-like effect. In a game where nearly every action against NPCs results in blood splatter or even full-on explosions of sticky red goo, this is a very noticeable difference, especially when fighting large groups of enemies who normally pop like overfilled water balloons when smacked around with a sword.
Another big change spotted by the outlet is that at least one boss has been changed. In the original version of Diablo 4, one of the game’s bosses is Wandering Death, a large, ghostly skeleton who players team up to take down. In China, this Diablo 4 world boss has been turned into a giant made out of rocks and boulders. While WOWHead wasn’t able to confirm how other skeletons look, it’s believed that, due to China’s strict regulations against depictions of dead bodies and occult-like imagery, other skeleton enemies in the ARPG will likely not look the same. Even some icons in Diablo 4 had to be changed to remove skulls.
Of course, these changes will let Diablo 4 launch in China on December 12, over two years after it launched in the rest of the world. I imagine that, for players who have been patiently waiting to play Diablo 4 in China, these changes won’t ruin the fun of killing four million enemies and picking up 400 swords.
