Blizzard has been building toward the April 28 launch of Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred for weeks, and now the studio is giving players one more reason to tune in: a multi-week Twitch Drop campaign that hands out free cosmetics just for watching streams.
The first window is already nearly closed. Players who watch one hour of Diablo IV content on Twitch before April 24 can unlock two weapon cosmetics: the Decaying Corona Staff and the Double Trouble Sword. If you have not linked your Battle.net account to Twitch yet, that is the first thing to sort out.
Every drop window and what you get
The campaign does not stop at launch. Blizzard has mapped out three more reward windows running from late April through mid-May, each tied to either watch time or a streamer subscription.
The key here is that the mount trophy window works differently from the others. Rather than passive watch time, you will need to subscribe to a Diablo IV-affiliated streamer during the May 5-11 window to unlock the Ensign of the Vanquisher. The specific streamers eligible for that promotion have not been fully detailed yet, so keeping an eye on Blizzard's official Twitch Drop page before that window opens is worth doing.
The first drop window for the Decaying Corona Staff and Double Trouble Sword closes April 24. After that, those two cosmetics are gone.
Overwatch is getting in on the Diablo celebration too
The cross-promotion extends beyond Diablo IV itself. Overwatch is running its own Diablo-themed event alongside the Lord of Hatred launch, bringing new and returning Diablo skins to the hero shooter. As part of that event, watching two hours of Overwatch content on Twitch between April 28 and May 10 will unlock two weapon charms: the Wolf Pup and Sword charms.
These are Overwatch rewards, not Diablo IV ones, so you will need a linked Overwatch account rather than Battle.net to claim them. Two separate games, two separate drop systems, but both running simultaneously if you want to maximize free cosmetics across the board.
What Lord of Hatred is actually changing
The Twitch campaigns are promotion for an expansion that appears to be making significant structural changes to Diablo IV. Blizzard is reworking every class skill tree, removing passive skills entirely, adding 12 Torment difficulty levels, and overhauling the endgame. The expansion also wraps up the current Mephisto storyline.
For players who have been waiting for a reason to return to Sanctuary, or for those jumping in fresh, the timing lines up well. Lord of Hatred launches April 27 in North America and April 28 globally. Pre-loading is already available.
For more on what is coming in the expansion, check out our latest gaming news covering all the Lord of Hatred changes. And if you want to see how the expansion stacks up once it is fully out, our latest reviews will have you covered.
