Blizzard announces Diablo 4 endgame beta, will include new Nightmare Dungeons

It wasn’t that long ago that Diablo IV beta files were found on Battle.net. It won’t be long until players finally get the chance to try the game for themselves either. Blizzard has announced an endgame beta, to take place later this fall.

The return of Lilith was a big part of Diablo IV’s announcement (director Joe Shelly even wears a shirt featuring the queen in the beta announcement video), but Blizzard doesn’t want to spoil anything about that storyline. As such, this beta will focus on post-campaign endgame content.

The more detailed developer update blog post lists some of the activities that players can look forward to. Seasoned players will be happy to hear about Nightmare Dungeons, a new difficulty tier that adds special modifiers to previous conquests. Each dungeon has a unique Nightmare Sigil, and finding it unlocks the option to dive back in on Nightmare difficulty. Other high-level activities in the beta include PvP zones called Fields of Hatred, public event battles called Helltides, and smaller tasks called Whispers of the Dead. Level 50 players can also make use of Paragon Boards to further empower their characters — that should be a good time to try out the new game-changing Legendary mechanics too.

The endgame beta doesn’t have a specific date just yet, nor will it have elective sign-ups. See our guide for how to qualify for the beta if you’re interested. If you don’t make the cut, you’ll still be able to jump into the public tests next year. All betas will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One, with crossplay enabled.

Those public tests are coming in 2023, which is also when Diablo IV will release. The Diablo franchise, along with Call of Duty and Overwatch, will be coming to Game Pass as part of Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, though it’s unclear if Diablo IV itself will be available on the service at launch.