Diablo Immortal launches in Singapore on July 8, here's how you can play it

Blizzard's Diablo Immortal has been making huge waves across the globe since its launch in June and these waves will finally be hitting Singapore's shores.

On July 8 at 9am, Diablo Immortal will be available to play throughout the Asia Pacific region for iOS, Android and PC in open beta access for select countries: Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Gamers from Vietnam will only be able to access Diablo Immortal on PC.

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In Diablo Immortal, players will face the minions of Skarn, Lord of Damnation, after he learns of your presence near Sanctuary.

To banish him and his bloodthirsty forces, you must travel through eight expansive zones in the world of Diablo Immortal as a Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer or Wizard and acquire pieces of the Worldstone - a gigantic object of logic-defying power now shattered into numerous pieces.

If you're a PC player, you can even pre-install the game so you're ready to go on July 8.

All you'll need to do to is download and install the Battle.net desktop app, launch it, register an account or log in. After that, select Diablo Immortal under the Games tab, install it and wait for launch day.

For Android or iOS users, search for "Diablo Immortal" on the Google Play Store app or the App Store respectively and install the game.

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For smartphone gamers, you'll automatically be assigned guest accounts which are only accessible on the same device that the account was created on, unless cloud backup is enabled.

But worry not — your progress can be carried over to and from PC once you create a Battle.net account on your device.

While Diablo Immortal is in open beta, your progress and purchases will be maintained in the full game. However, characters made on one server cannot be carried over to another — so be sure to check what servers your friends are on before you get too far ahead.

Speaking of friends, the clans you can create in Diablo Immortal consist of up to 100 adventurers each. There's also Warbands, which are smaller groups of eight, and are perfect for running dungeons together with your tight-knit group of friends.

However, it might be a tad difficult to convince them to join you on your journey through Sanctuary.

When it was first launched outside of the Asia Pacific region, the microtransactions within the game came under fire.

In one instance, a Diablo Immortal livestreamer spent over US$10,000 (S$14,000) and didn't get a single five-star gem from the in-game gacha system. Gems are used to grant additional effects to characters, making them stronger.

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According to a Redditor, an "averagely lucky" player would need to spend $2,450 to max out one five-star gem. A total of six such gems would be needed — or so people thought.

In a separate Reddit post, another user speculated that it would take upwards of $500,000 to max out a character in Diablo Immortal due to hidden gem slots that you would need to unlock once you fully kit your character with six gems.

Despite Diablo Immortal's controversial microtransactions, Blizzard games have always had a certain level of hype surrounding them, with dedicated communities within their playerbase.

Now, you can see for yourself if it lives up to the hype.

For the full list of servers, device recommendations and more frequently asked questions, visit Blizzard's Diablo Immortal page for more information.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com