Diablo 4 On PC Game Pass Requires Installing Blizzard’s Battle.net

Blizzard’s hit ARPG Diablo 4 will be playable via Game Pass on PC, but it does require an extra hoop to jump through compared to those playing on consoles or Steam.

As revealed in an Xbox Wire post about the game’s March 28 Game Pass launch, to play Diablo 4 via Microsoft’s subscription service on PC, players will be required to download Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher. Players will be prompted during the game’s installation to install Battle.net and connect their Battle.net and Microsoft accounts. Once that’s done and Battle.net is installed, the installation of Diablo 4 will continue until it’s complete and ready to play.

It’s currently unclear if players will need to launch the game from the Game Pass app, Battle.net, or if it can be launched from either. Either way, it is worth noting that the Steam version of Diablo 4 does not require the installation of Battle.net, though it does require players to connect their Steam account with a Battle.net account. Connecting to Battle.net is also required when playing on consoles, as it enables cross-play between platforms and other features.

Blizzard and Microsoft have not clarified the reason behind requiring users to install Battle.net to play. Diablo 4 will be the first Activision Blizzard game to arrive on Xbox Game Pass following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year. Battle.net was once the exclusive home to Blizzard and Activision games on PC. However, Blizzard announced last year it would begin bringing some of its games to Steam, and so far have launched Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 on Valve’s platform. On the Activision side, 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and and last year’s Modern Warfare 3 also released on Steam.

Blizzard recently announced big changes will be coming to Diablo 4 as part of its Season 4 update, including major reworks to items, trading, and crafting. To make time for players to test all the Season 4 changes on the game’s new public test realm and implement feedback, Diablo 4 Season 3 has been extended several weeks, and will now end on May 14, the same day Season 4 begins.