Technical problems with Blizzard’s long-awaited Diablo 4 have some gamers frustrated after glitches in the game brought their race to level 100 in Hardcore mode to a painful end. Although it doesn’t officially release until June 6, players who pre-ordered the title on PC and consoles were able to pre-load Diablo 4 earlier this week to take part in the game’s early access period.The latest entry in Blizzard’s long-running action RPG series, Diablo 4 marks a return to the grim and gritty tone of the franchise’s first two releases. Even though the color palette and overall visual aesthetic of the game are most reminiscent of Diablo 2, Blizzard wisely chose to keep some of the quality-of-life improvements introduced to the franchise with 2012’s Diablo 3. A series of open beta weekends and Diablo 4 Server Slam events allowed players to get their hands on the game ahead of launch, with Blizzard even offering up in-game rewards that gamers could earn by completing certain tasks during the testing period. This early preview helped assuage some fans’ worries that Diablo 4 would have more in common with the free-to-play Diablo Immortal than the games that gave the franchise its start.RELATED: World of Warcraft Player's Attempt to Catch Diablo 4 Event Treasure Goblin Goes Horribly WrongWhile many gamers who’d preordered were excited to finally be able to dive into the full game earlier this week, bugs in Diablo 4’s early access period have now caused headaches for two players attempting to reach level 100 in Hardcore mode. Streamer Max “Maximum” Smith shared a clip on Twitter showing his Hardcore run coming to a messy end after a bug caused his Sorceress character to become stuck in a stunned state, leaving him unable to move or access his abilities as he was swarmed by enemies. Despite his attempt to quickly exit out of the game Maximum’s Hardcore Sorceress run, and his 18 hours of play, were brought to an untimely end by the bug.

In another instance of bugs bringing a Hardcore run to an unexpected end, Twitch streamer imexile’s Sorceress fell victim to a glitched poison attack that slowly drained his life until his Diablo 4 character was dead. Although the Flame Shield that imexile had equipped should have protected him from the poison’s effects it failed to do so, leaving him with no choice but to try to exit the game before his health ran out. Like in Maximum’s case, though, the damage was already done and his Hardcore run was ruined. The full clip can be seen here (warning: language).

For Hardcore players who’ve already put countless into Diablo 4 in the days since early access began, these two stories may lead them to double-check that everything is working properly before heading into their next battle. At least players can still have fun cheesing Diablo 4’s Butcher while they wait for Blizzard to patch these seemingly serious bugs.

Diablo 4 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: PC Gamer