Blizzard enables you to dive directly into Diablo 4's new seasonal content (so long as you've completed the campaign once before).

Diablo IV's first season will arrive in mid to late July following a game's launch on June 6, Blizzard has announced. The news came included in a developer livestream focused on offering new details associated with how Diablo IV's seasons and battle pass work.

Seasons in Diablo IV are going to be quarterly (four annually) and can function similarly to the way they did in Diablo III, with players seeking to complete objectives included in a Season Journey. Objectives are divided into chapters, and players will have to complete most, although not all, of the objectives in a single chapter before progressing to another. Completing objectives included in the Season Journey will contribute towards leveling in the seasonal battle pass, which will feature 27 free reward tiers. Playing and leveling up seasonal characters will even contribute towards battle pass progress.

The free reward tiers will occasionally incorporate a special currency called Smoldering Ash, which is often used to unlock and upgrade seasonal perks (called Season Blessings) which will grant various benefits to seasonal characters, which range from increased XP earned from monsters to using a higher possibility of acquiring rare salvage materials. Blizzard re-emphasized that players won't be able to purchase power in Diablo IV by buying tier skips for that battle pass to earn Smoldering Ash and immediately make their seasonal characters stronger, as each Smoldering Ash reward may have level requirements that will have to be met before they may be used.

All rewards that grant some type of gameplay benefit are going to be included in the game's free battle pass. The premium battle pass reward track, which Blizzard confirmed will definitely cost $10, will instead grant 63 tiers of largely cosmetic items. Players will additionally have the option of buying an accelerated premium battle pass with 20 tier skips for roughly $25. In total, the battle pass will feature 90 tiers to unlock. In a previous interview, associate game director Joe Piepiora asserted completing Diablo IV's battle pass would take around 80 hours.

As for which new seasons bring, Blizzard said each season will sport a powerful unifying theme that will run with the battle pass and new gameplay features. They will even introduce new seasonal storylines that will not progress the game's core story (that is going to be saved for future expansions, Blizzard confirmed) and can explore the field of Sanctuary in different ways. New gameplay mechanics, along with the seasonal storyline, goes away after a season, though Blizzard said there's a chance seasonal content could return down the road. However, new Legendary powers or unique items introduced included in the season will stick around included in the core game.

To access seasonal content, players will have to have completed Diablo IV's campaign at least one time on any character. From that point forward, players can pick to skip the campaign anytime on subsequent characters to be able to dive directly into the new content. Blizzard additionally clarified what unlocks exist on a per-character basis and what unlocks are account-wide. Unlocked Legendary aspects and entries within the Codex of Power, in addition to regional Renown levels and discovered Altars of Lilith, will have to be earned on every character and therefore are not account-wide. However, the stat boosts along with other rewards from reaching certain Renown levels for each of the game's regions are going to be account-wide. Once players unlock their first mount included in Diablo IV's campaign, all subsequent characters are going to be able to use mounts from the get-go.

Diablo IV arrives on June 6, or June 2 for individuals who purchase the Deluxe or Ultimate edition from the game. Those thinking about taking Blizzard's latest for any spin in front of launch may have one more opportunity to do so from May 12-14 included in the game's free Server Slam beta. Though character progress doesn't carry over towards the full game, players who reach level 20 and achieve certain milestones will earn permanent rewards when Diablo IV launches.