Diablo 4 season 1 players issued warning after colossal DDoS

Fans of Diablo 4 (stylised as Diablo IV) have been told to make a crucial change to avoid hackers. The game, published by Activision Blizzard, was released to critical acclaim worldwide last month.

However, the title has been hampered by a constant barrage of DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks, which have blocked players from logging into their accounts. These attacks keep players offline – Diablo 4 requires an active internet at all times, even when playing single-player modes in the title.

The ongoing attacks have been a constant thorn in the side of PC, PS5, and Xbox gamers, especially players located in North America, mainland Europe, and some Asian nations. To try to help frustrated players trying to access the title, Blizzard has sent out urgent advice to PC gamers about a trick to login to the Diablo 4 servers – even with the constant DDoS attacks by cybercriminals.

It comes as Blizzard also recently announced plans for its Season 1 which kicks off at the end of July. Yesterday’s livestream revealed plans for a new questline, characters, powers and a battle pass for players to enjoy. 

But with DDoS attacks being a recent thorn in Blizzard’s side, it’s a possibility that the new season could bring in cybercriminals to attack the servers once again. 

And Diablo 4 players on PC should download and install a VPN to ensure a more secure, stable experience, Blizzard has cautioned. 

In a statement issued to all PC gamers, it said: “We are aware of an issue with players that are not able to connect to battle.net. This seems to mostly be affecting players in the North East of the US. If you are impacted a VPN might assist if you feel comfortable using one.”

Blizzard, the gaming giant behind the all-new Diablo 4, has asked PC players to install a VPN to access the game amid a barrage of DDoS attacks from hackers. But how can a VPN help?

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) add an ironclad layer of privacy to your browsing – protecting all of your online data from bad actors and keeping your browsing history hidden from prying eyes. It does this by creating an end-to-end encrypted pathway between your device and the internet.

It’s easiest to imagine this as a secure tunnel that connects you with the website or online service that you’re interacting with.

By routing everything through this tunnel, the VPN adds protection to your internet connection – encrypting all of your data when you surf the web, stream a boxset from a video streaming service, make a video call, and more.

It allows you to manually change your IP address, making it appear as if you’re connecting to the internet from another country.  

In terms of protecting against DDoS attacks plaguing Diablo 4 players, using a virtual private network (VPN) could help protect you against attacks by masking your IP address and encrypting your traffic. With the best VPN deals, these incredibly useful apps will only cost a few pounds each month. 

VPNs have other benefits for players too, including cutting down on queue times when you’re trying to enter the game. During peak times, queuing to play Diablo 4 can seem like a long and arduous wait but a VPN could help could down. 

There’s no shortage of VPNs out there, making it tricky to work out the best option for you. We’ve rounded a definitive list of the best VPNs in our dedicated guide, however, if you’re short on time all you need to know is that our go-to recommend is ExpressVPN.

This brilliant app earned the full five-stars in our ExpressVPN review, and also ranked highly in a number of our VPN guides.  

We’ve also recommended ExpressVPN for other games such as Call of Duty Warzone to help with that fast and safe connection. 

And if you enjoy streaming on Netflix, HBO and other services, ExpressVPN allows you to bypass geo restrictions and start streaming series, films, sports fixtures, and documentaries from across the globe.

ExpressVPN is also offering 3 free months for those who sign up so you can test it out and try to see if you enjoy what it offers. 

There are also other VPNs you can consider including NordVPN and Surfshark, which both offer cheap subscriptions and great VPN features for you to try.