Diablo 4's First Public Test Realm Let's Players Try Season 4 Early

Diablo 4 players impatiently waiting to try Season 4 can now do so thanks to Blizzard releasing the game's first Public Test Realm (PTR).

Blizzard initially announced the PTR in late March, revealing that it would run for a limited time, starting on Tuesday, April 2, and concluding on Tuesday, April 9. However, a week-long PTR is not the only thing limiting this PTR, as Blizzard already confirmed in the same announcement that it would only be available to players with a PC Battle.net account.

Nevertheless, if you are eligible for the PTR, you will gain access to test updates and features before Season 4 officially launches. Alongside allowing certain players itching to try the new season, this PTR will also allow the development team some time to consider and implement any player feedback gained from this testing period, allowing them to incorporate it into the forthcoming season.

The release of the PTR was part of a bigger announcement from Blizzard, revealing that the team had to delay Season 4. The season was originally supposed to launch on April 16, but during the most recent episode in the Campfire Chat series, Diablo Community Lead Adam Fletcher revealed that it had to delay the fourth season until May 14.

Diablo 4 is already being touted as the biggest post-launch update for the game yet. While Season 3 introduced some things, most notably Class Changes, Blizzard pledged that the next season will rework itemization, changing the entire framework of how loot impacts the overall gameplay experience.

For who recently jumped in thanks to Blizzard bringing its most recent project to both Xbox Game Pass for consoles and PC Game Pass, there are a few caveats: there is no Xbox achievement support, and if you are playing the PC Game Pass version, you need to install Battle.net.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.