With a surge of players logging into 'Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred,' which launched today, wait times of several minutes have emerged.

'Lord of Hatred,' the second expansion for Diablo IV and the successor to 'Vessel of Hatred,' was released at 8:00 AM today, with the new season opening 30 minutes later at 8:30 AM. While access was smooth with no server issues during the morning hours when traffic was relatively light, queues appeared for the first time in a long while once the evening peak hit.

Fortunately, there were no server issues beyond the queues. Unlike the previous expansion, 'Vessel of Hatred,' which faced a multi-hour delay due to platform synchronization issues and server instability, 'Lord of Hatred' allowed for smooth access immediately after launch. Even during the busy evening hours, the only issue was the wait time; the connection itself remained stable.

On Steam, a public metric, the number of concurrent players for 'Diablo IV' surged from 3,000 the previous day to over 40,000 immediately after launch—a tenfold increase. Even considering that most PC gamers play via Battle.net rather than Steam, it is reasonable to assume that a similar proportional rise occurred across the board.

While it is common for seasonal games to see a surge in players at the start of a new season, typical seasonal updates usually see a five- to sixfold increase. This highlights just how much attention this particular expansion is garnering.

Meanwhile, to celebrate the launch of 'Lord of Hatred,' Blizzard Korea is hosting the 'Kitchen Diablo' event, where they have collaborated with culinary influencers to develop and sell Diablo-themed food.