Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition coming to Xbox One and 360 this August

By Paul Acevedo
published

It’s a huge day for Xbox console hype with news that the Xbox One will now be available without a bundled Kinect, the Games with Gold and weekly deals programs coming to Xbox One, and video apps no longer requiring Xbox Live Gold on either the One or 360 (see the whole list of announcements here).

All fantastic news, but I’m almost as excited for another announcement coming from Blizzard: Diablo III is coming to Xbox One! In fact, the Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition will come to Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Playstation systems this August. The Ultimate Evil Edition collects both the main Diablo III game (which we reviewed for Xbox 360 back in September) and the “Reaper of Souls” expansion pack that landed on PC in March. Read on for pricing and character transfer details!

Reaper of Souls

Vanilla Diablo III is a fairly long game as-is, but many fans have hungered for new content – especially more character classes. “Reaper of Souls” adds a whole fifth act to the game, with a brand new story taking place after the main game’s conclusion. As the Order attempts to seal away the dangerous Black Soulstone, Malthael the Angel of Death arrives and steals the stone. It’s up to the player(s) to get it back.

The “Reaper of Souls” expansion also brings the following additions:

  • Crusader (pictured above): A sixth character class who wields large weapons (like axes and the new flails) and holy magic.
  • Adventure Mode: Freely explore every unlocked area in the game without having to start a new game. New objectives and features can only be found in Adventure Mode, such as Bounties, Nephalim Rifts, and the Mystic NPC.
  • Bounties: Random optional missions. Complete them for sizable rewards.
  • Nephalim Rifts: Randomized dungeons that can only be opened with items gained from Bounties.
  • The Mystic: A new NPC who can Enchant items and Transmogrify player characters (change their appearance).
  • Level Cap to 70: Formidable new spells and abilities that take players to new heights of power

Pricing and transfer

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition will cost $39.99 on Xbox 360 and $59.99 on Xbox One. The “Reaper of Souls” expansion pack will not be sold separately on consoles, so Xbox 360 players who already own Diablo III have no choice but to get the Ultimate Evil Edition. That might sound like a poor value, except that the expansion pack costs $39.99 on PC anyway. 360 gamers will pay the same price; they just don’t have to hold onto the original Diablo III disc to play the new content.

The main Diablo III game is only four acts long, but with four distinct difficulty levels and endless piles of loot to find, many gamers have already put hundreds of hours into the game. It would suck to have to start from scratch on Xbox One. Thankfully Blizzard has announced that Xbox 360 players will be able to transfer their progress to the Xbox One version (and Playstation 3 gamers can transfer to Playstation 4)! Thus it’s completely safe to buy the 360 game now and play it till the Ultimate Evil Edition arrives on the 360’s big brother system.

More than just the expansion

The Ultimate Evil Edition will boast several console-exclusive improvements as well. The new Apprentice mode allows low-level players to boost their stats while adventuring with high-level friends. This makes it easier for new players to join experienced ones without dragging the team down. A new in-game mail system will let players send items to their friends, including “mysterious Player Gifts containing rare loot for the adventurer whose name they bear.”

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition sounds like the action-RPG to beat, especially on the young Xbox One. And it will feature the same fantastic multiplayer features as the first 360 game. That’s four-player local co-op, four-player online co-op, and any mixture of the two. Questing with friends and hunting for rare loot should be better than ever before when the Ultimate Evil Edition rolls around.

Preorder the Ultimate Evil Edition to get the exclusive Infernal Pauldrons bonus in-game item. The Pauldrons are a unique set of shoulder plates that provide Health, Life regeneration, and Cool-down Reduction effects. The Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition is due out on Tuesday, August 19.

  • Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition – Xbox One – $59.99 – Amazon Preorder Link (opens in new tab)
  • Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition – Xbox 360 – $39.99 – Amazon Preorder Link (opens in new tab)
Paul Acevedo
Paul Acevedo

Paul Acevedo is the Games Editor at Windows Central. A lifelong gamer, he has written about videogames for over 15 years and reviewed over 350 games for our site. Follow him on Twitter @PaulRAcevedo. Don’t hate. Appreciate!

43 Comments
  • I think is time to get the Xbox one now
  • Heard this game is fun...never played it
  • I played it on PC and enjoyed it.  Most Blizzard games are top notch.
  • +1   I'm planning on upgrading my PC in order to play their current generation games... especially StarCraft II.
  • All blizzard games are number one lol
  • Paul, if I ever spend $400-$500 to but an Xbox one, I'll blame you :P and yes I have changed my username :D
  • Hey man! Hope this one suits you better.
  • This news made my day yesterday, freaking awesome. Great game until Witcher comes out.
  • Still don't agree with unbundling Kinect. Now there is absolutely no incentive to use Kinect. Back to the old days and with weaker hardware than ps4. Not very enticing. The gold pay wall drop is fantastic though.
  • Although this means less Kinect games, it also means a lot more Xbox Ones will sell. And that will result in more games getting released in general, so it's for the best overall.
  • This isn't going to change anything. People will still not want to buy an Xbox one because the media has portrayed the Xbox as a bad investment due to the weaker hardware. Games look great on the one, but with most people under the assumption that they are truly getting less for more, and now with the only piece of innovation being removed, no one is going to change their mind. Think of it in terms of buying a PC. Would you buy a PC with the Xbox one's hardware if you could get another PC with the PS4's hardware for the same price? That's how most consumers will see it.
  • I don't agree. Some people will "think" that in the short term, but as more games come out in native 1080p res this argument will dissappear. When people see an Xbox One at their friends house it will dissappear. When you social circle are on Xbox One, it won't matter. When people see the better quality streaming it won't matter. Kinect usage, it won't matter. This is like politics, no-one will change their beliefs. Microsoft will shift plenty of these boxes, and certainly enough to compete this generation. These latest moves to drop Gold for basic apps that shouldn't require it is a smart move, as is making the box cheaper by dropping kinect. I love my Xbox One. I love it primarily for Kinect. But my family and friends are on Xbox . I am sure the PS4 is a fine machine, but the Xbox One is better for me. End of story.
  • Nicely said, man.
  • Yes, I am not taking the unbundling as good news either.   I think indeed more Xbox Ones will sell now... However it is a double edged swrod. Now more people will claim that they are paying the same price as the PS4 for a console that is less powerful.   At the same time developers will be less motivated to work on Kinect features.   I am sad. All the other announcementes were great though.
  • Yes. Free apps across the board and free games with gold plus sales. Indeed a good incentive to keep gold. I'm also thinking that developers will cease all efforts to include Kinect features. I really liked yelling at psychos in dr3, or the head tracking and voice in bf4. There are a lot of ways developers could bring unique features to the system through Kinect but they have no incentive now. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am.
  • It's a good game, but to call it a long game... For a hack and slash it's quite short in my opinion. The time it took me to finish the base game was shorter than the time it took me to finish Act 1 in Titan Quest or perhaps about a third of Dungeon Siege 2. Was a little bit disappointed by that.
  • The game wasn't designed for one play through though. It was actually designed for multiple runs, and there's no way you can get all the cool stuff by just finishing the storyline once and just stopping there.
  • True, but that's the case for most ARPG/Hack 'n slash games. They usually all have multiple classes and lots of gear for multiple playthroughs, and generally they are all quite a bit longer than D3.
  • Yeah, titan quest is frigging massive, Diablo ii felt long the first time I played it but it really isn't after you get the hang of it. Nothing comes close to Sacred though, that shit is brutal.
  • I'm already playing that now...on my computer!!!
  • August is very much summer not fall.
  • It will always be Fall... in my heart.
  • LOL
  • *sigh* I guess I'll be throwing another $60 at Blizzard for the third time. Love this game.
  • I had this game on the 360. I'm thinking of getting it for my Xbox one but I had an issue that never let me finish the game. I was in act three when my cousin got the game too. I took my main to speed him through the game. When I went back to my story,I couldn't see any of the cut scenes. Even new characters wouldn't work. Blizzard never fixed this. I hope this won't be an issue on this new version.
  • Funny I have never had that problem.  I have even had my level 60+ monk speed a friend through and the only thing I got was watching all the baddies bow down before me and die without me physically attacking them.  Love those montras LOL
  • Diablo 3, the most overrated game ever...
    it seems Diablo 2 will and always will bethe best. hey should just port it to xbox one and forget about this abomination called Diablo 3. and now I think and wonder about Grim Dawn, it's been 2 years since the kickstarter. it looked like a good idea for a ARPG, and while I know there is an alpha, I havent really played it.
  • Grim Dawn is really nice. The part you can already play by purchasing it now is pretty huge already, probably more than one play through of D3 already. Nice skill system, lots of loot, satisfying animations... If you've never played Titan Quest before, have a go at that as well.
  • I saw this really wacky comment in my inbox... And what do ya know, it's Emi. ;)
  • Finally !
  • Guys, the Kinect unbundling is a done deal. Get over it already. First people complain they don't want Kinect. And now u can get one without and its still not good. Just get the 499 one. Make up your damn minds. Its done and over. 9th of June. $399, £349. Kinect standalone this fall. Kinect will get its own app and games lineup: TBA soon. That's it. Now eat it.
  • As a former PS fanboy that has switched sides and is very entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem (writing this on a surface, own a windows phone, have a Windows 8 desktop and laptop and also and Xbox one) I can't help but feel, that although it was for the best that this a major blow to what the original view of the system was..... Makes all the media center aspects pointless as the channel changing (with the SMARTGLASS app) is done via RF signal
  • The Xbox One still gets full Kinect support. Microsoft's main goal hasn't changed by this move. They listen to the people. And they responded. But advices to always get the $499 version Xbox One. Phil Spencer even explained why. Again, this doesn't mean less Kinect games will be made. No. I have seen what is coming for the next Kinect lineup as a part of my job. And I think people will get a Kinect for that. MS did one thing but at the same time, planned something to back it up. To make sure Kinect isn't just a whatever gadget.
  • And preordered!
  • For Xbox one
  • Infernal pauldrons, Paul Acevedo. Coincidence....??? :)
  • My apologies if this was addressed already and I just didn't see it, but will people who own the PC version be able to play alongside those with the Xbox/PS versions, or is each version's multiplayer separate from the others?
  • Most likely all separate
  • No 512MB support
  • QQ moar
  • Gz xbox
  • What? No mandatory Kinect? That sucks. In the long run this'll have impacts on Microsoft's living room vision. Poor decision Satya. If I were to compare stone age to this day, there's one thing common and that's Microsoft. They just don't seem to know that there's a big world outside US.
  • Meh, already finished D3 twice. Enjoy those who haven't though, reaper of souls is cool.