Eighty-eight percent positive. Two critic reviews sitting at 90. A 9/10 from ZTGD that called the Warlock “an all-time great” class design. By every metric that matters, Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition is a hit.

Now look at the top reviews on Steam.

“♥♥♥♥ you blizzard.” That’s the second-most-visible review on the store page, clocking in at 2.8 hours played. The player’s grievance isn’t even the game itself — it’s that launching it requires a Battle.net installation. The reviewer later appended an edit acknowledging you only need to activate the product once and don’t even need Battle.net for that, and that the frustration was “partly my fault,” but the thumbs-down stands.

The third-highest review, from someone with 0.3 hours — eighteen minutes — calls the game “crap” because the Battle.net authorization code didn’t arrive through their authenticator app. The top review, at 0.7 hours, is more measured but still negative, citing pricing and polish concerns.

Three reviews on the marquee. All negative. All about everything except how the game actually plays.

The Game Inside the Wrapper

Here’s the thing: Infernal Edition is genuinely good. Released February 11, it bundles the 2021 Resurrected remaster with Reign of the Warlock, the first new playable class added to Diablo II in over 25 years. The Warlock has three skill trees — demonic binding, eldritch weapons, and arts of chaos — and fits so well alongside the original cast that reviewers have noted you forget it wasn’t there from the start.

Ars Technica described the surprise update as “the kind of content drop that players have been waiting for since 2001’s ‘Lord of Destruction’ expansion.” ZTGD’s review praised the Warlock’s restraint in design, calling it “a true ARPG character of the past in all the best ways,” though the outlet flagged that the class may be overtuned — outdamaging characters with two decades of optimization behind them.

The DLC also brings loot filters, advanced stash tabs with dedicated tabs for materials, gems, runes, and consumables, a collection-tracking system called The Chronicle, new pinnacle boss encounters, and terror zone rotations cut to 30 minutes.

1,874 Players and a Stubborn Price Tag

For all that quality, Infernal Edition is currently sitting at 1,874 concurrent players on Steam — a respectable number for a 25-year-old remaster, but a fraction of the ARPG competition on the platform. It’s charting at #10 on Steam’s Top Sellers, and a 25% markdown brings it to $29.99 from $39.99.

That discount is modest by Steam sale standards, where top sellers routinely slash 70–75% during promotional events. Blizzard is pricing like a publisher protecting brand value, not one chasing chart positions. Combined with the mandatory Battle.net tether — you buy on Steam, you still need a Blizzard account and a one-time client activation — and the friction is real.

Reviews as Protest

Steam reviews have always been blunt instruments. The platform’s visibility algorithm surfaces engagement, not nuance. A review that says “♥♥♥♥ you blizzard” generates more clicks and votes than a measured 8/10 assessment, so it climbs. The result is a store page where 88% of 3,043 reviewers recommend the product, but a prospective buyer’s first impression is three people furious at the publisher.

This isn’t unique to Blizzard. EA, Ubisoft, and 2K have all faced the same review-bomb-as-petition dynamic. But Blizzard carries particular baggage — years of controversy, layoffs, and corporate decisions that eroded goodwill long before this product launched. Infernal Edition is paying the bill for sins that aren’t its own.

The game earned its 88%. The reviews earned their placement. Both things are true at once.

Sources