7MMO
Moderator
CD Projekt and Blizzard have released a first look at the Geralt-themed Barbarian skin for Diablo 4, but you'll need to preorder The Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past on Battle.net to get it.
During BlizzCon 2026, CD Projekt’s Expert Community and Social Media Manager Amelia Korzycka and Level Design Lead Miles Tost appeared as guests on the 30 Years of Battle.net panel to reveal the skin, which will be available to Battle.net players who pre-purchase Songs of the Past (it’s only available to wishlist right now), or buy the expansion when it launches. That means the Geralt skin is locked behind Battle.net, which in turn means Steam players, for example, miss out.
This, as you can imagine, isn’t going down particularly well with Diablo 4 players who already own The Witcher 3 on non-Battle.net platforms. Remastered is coming to Steam as a free upgrade on September 29, 2026 for anyone who already owns the base game. So, those who already own The Witcher 3 on Steam (at this point, who doesn't?) and are interested in Songs of the Past are probably going to buy it on Valve's platform, and probably don't want to rebuy The Witcher 3 on Battle.net just so they can get the Geralt skin for Diablo 4.
“Not paying for a second copy of a 15-year-old game that most people who would play it probably already own,” one person said on social media. “Thx though Blizzard.”
“He looks so bad,” another said in response to Geralt’s face in the image shown during the panel itself. “I'm glad tho because I had zero desire to preorder a game in the worst launcher ever just to get this. I really hope they sold it separately in the future.”
The Geralt skin is also coming under fire from some Diablo 4 fans who were angered by Blizzard's confirmation yesterday that the game will not get any further expansions. Diablo game director Brent Gibson told PC Gamer: "We're all focused on [Diablo 4] seasons and getting to Diablo 5. We feel like we told the Story of Hatred. We had a great conclusion with Lord of Hatred with what we have with Mephisto, and we are moving towards telling the Story of Terror." Diablo 4 launched June 2023. Diablo 5 is due out at some point in 2029.
“For us creatively, stuff like this is super fun because it puts us as creatives in a position where we have to think, how do we make these worlds collide in a way that gives respect and pays respect to both of the source materials, Diablo and The Witcher in this context?” Tost said of the Geralt skin during the Battle.net BlizzCon panel.
“So when we look at these kind of things we first try to find the overlap. What makes sense? Diablo of course, talking about classes, looking at the roster, we relatively quickly landed at the Barbarian as the place where we could imagine adding Geralt-inspired content. They’re both masters of physical prowess. They have trained all their lives to become super strong and powerful melee combatants. The Barbarian is capable of wielding multiple weapons at the same time. Geralt doesn’t wield them at the same time, but he does use two swords: the iconic steel for humans and silver for monsters.
“And you can see here — for those of you in the know — that this armor is heavily inspired by Geralt’s iconic Kaer Morhen armor. There’s a bit of Barbarian sprinkled on top… you see all the fur. I think you can see here how we’re trying to create collaborations like these in a way that makes sense for both teams and worlds and also fans. I hope you can see here how we have created something that feels right at home in Sanctuary.”
CD Projekt said that next year even more Witcher-themed content will hit Diablo 4, with more details to be revealed at a later date. “This skin, taking Geralt’s style into the hellscapes of Sanctuary, is the first piece of Witcher-inspired content coming to Diablo 4, and more is in the works, coming to Blizzard’s action-RPG in 2027,” CD Projekt added.
Meanwhile, CD Projekt announced that Cyberpunk 2077, its expansion Phantom Liberty, and the Ultimate Edition are coming to Battle.net later this year as its partnership with Blizzard expands. Meanwhile, Blizzard’s Overwatch will get Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Edgerunners 2-themed content in 2027. Sequel animated series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 premieres on Netflix on October 20.
If you need a catch-up, here's everything announced at BlizzCon 2026 Opening Ceremony.
Continue reading...
