Diablo 4 Season 9 release date

When is the Diablo 4 Season 9 release date? New seasons in D4 add everything from new questlines to items, gameplay mechanics, and more. Whether you're a fresh-faced player taking their first steps into Sanctuary or a grizzled veteran of the Burning Hells, there's plenty to sink your teeth into as Blizzard continues to expand the rich, gothic world of Sanctuary,

We're currently at Season 8, and with a promise of four seasons a year, we've got two more seasons to go in 2025. While the new Diablo 4 DLC isn't due until 2026, there's still plenty of content planned in Blizzard's action RPG game. It's still too early to dive into Diablo 4 Season 9 just yet, but we can prepare for the release date thanks to earlier seasonal content scheduling and a shiny new roadmap.

The Diablo 4 Season 9 release date is Tuesday, July 1, 2025. It's scheduled to go live at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST / 7pm CET / 3am AET.

Season 9, otherwise known as Sins of the Horadrim, introduces Horadric Spells and a dungeon escalation in Blizzard's acclaimed ARPG. Diablo 4 seasons have made significant changes to vanilla mechanics, including loot and leveling, and we expect that to continue into Season 9

Following numerous complaints about the Diablo 4 Reliquary battle pass introduced in Season 8, Blizzard has now confirmed that the system will undergo a significant update in later seasons. However, this news comes with the unfortunate caveat that changes won't appear next season.

While Season 9 is shaping up to be a shorter season than Belial's Return or Season of Witchcraft before it, this schedule conforms to Blizzard's official Diablo 4 roadmap for 2025.

Diablo 4 Season 9 features

Here are all the new features in Diablo 4 Season 9:

• Escalation Nightmares
• Horadric Spells
• Horadric Strongrooms
• Horadric Jewels

Escalation Nightmares

The biggest update coming to Season 9 is Dungeon Escalations. Othherwise known as Nightmare Dungeons, this new endgame activity sees you fight through three dungeons, escalating in difficulty after you conquer each one. Such a challenge is certain to appeal to hardcore players who've gone up against the most powerful archdemons and emerged unscathed. It also follows the changes to lair bosses that arrived last season, letting players ascend to higher difficulty levels.

Horadric Strongrooms

Horadric Strongrooms are micro-dungeons located in Season 9 Nightmare Dungeons. They contain powerful enemies, but worthwhile rewards for anyone willing to tackle them. You can locate Horadric Gateways via the Wayfinder, and you can interact with Horadric Pillars to change the instance conditions. Some pillars might be corrupted, but activating them anyway can escalate your rewards.

Horadric Spells

Previously called Horadric Powers, this seasonal spell-crafting mechanic should be familiar to anyone who dabbled in Witch Powers and Boss Powers in previous seasons. Horadric Spells give you more customization than ever thanks to Catalysts, Infusions, and Arcana, which are combined to create unique combinations. Catalysts form the base of the spell, Infusions modify the type of elemental damage, and Arcana modify the power.

Horadric Jewels

Horadric Jewels are unique items that become available once you retrieve Horadric Tomes from strongrooms. They are crafted using Horadric Phials and Gem Fragments, and bestow powerful buffs to your movement speed, cri chance, damage over time, and so on. Some Horadric Jewel have negative effects, including summoning tough enemies, but you can also work these in your favor.

Diablo 4 Season 9 items

Every season brings us a new set of unique items and aspects for our Diablo 4 classes. Here's what's coming in Season 9:

• Barbarian: Hooves of the Mountain God (Boots)
• Druid: Noxious Spine-Breaker (Two-handed Weapon)
• Necromancer: The Hand of Naz (Gloves)
• Rogue: Deathmask of Nirmitruq (Helm)
• Sorcerer: Ophidian Iris (Amulet)
• Spiritborn: Balazan's Maxtlatl (Pants)

Diablo 4 seasons explained

Diablo 4 seasons last between two to three months, with four seasons a year. You must have completed the campaign before you can experience any of the new seasonal stories. You can, however, complete the campaign in the seasonal realm if you are new to D4, and your usual slaying of beasts and clearing of dungeons will add to your Diablo 4 battle pass progress.

If you aren't new to the game and have already started your adventure in Sanctuary, you'll need new seasonal characters; each one is a fresh start from level one, which gets you to level up, experience the seasonal content, and get great loot - don't forget that the skip campaign option becomes available once you have completed it once. Once the season ends, you won't lose your character, as every seasonal character is transferred to the Eternal Realm to allow players to keep slaying and looting to their heart's content.

Previous Diablo 4 Seasons

Here are all the previous Diablo 4 seasons and content:

• Season 1 - Season of the Malignant: This added a new short story campaign where players looked for Varshan the Consumed and dealt with the blight by interacting with Malignant Hearts.
• Season 2 - Season of the Blood: This season saw players obtain up to 22 vampiric powers, which were transferred to the base game as aspects. It also introduced several endgame bosses and the Blood Harvest event.
• Season 3 - Season of the Construct: Players were able to use Seneschal, a robot companion who they can upgrade with abilities and traits. It also included a new dungeon type called Vaults, as well as the first appearance of leaderboards and always active Helltides.
• Season 4 - Season of Loot Reborn: This season had a campaign where members of the Iron Wolves were disappearing under suspicious circumstances. Players must also fight back against the Helltide to earn standing with the Iron Wolves. Many significant changes were made to both the Seasonal and Eternal realms for how items are earned, and how loot in general works.
• Season 5 - Season of the Infernal Hordes: This season added a new Infernal Hordes mode which you can complete solo or with friends. The aim is to defeat waves of enemies within a time limit and advance through the Well of Hatred, spending Burning Aether between waves on spoils to help you advance.
• Season 6 - Season of Hatred: The main change in Season 6 was a massive overhaul to leveling which saw the previous maximum level of 100 reduced to 60, and another ten then added, so any players who hit level 100 had more work to do on existing characters. New characters can now hit a cap of 70, which we could see extended again in the future.
• Season 7 - Season of Witchcraft: This season introduced Witch Powers, Headhunt zone events, and Occult Gems to increase the power of certain abilities. The introduction of the armory also allows you to switch your build on the fly going forwards.
• Season 8 - Belial's Return: This season added three new lair bosses - Belial, Urivar, and Harbinger of Hatred - with new mechanics to spruce up existing bosses. We also saw Boss Powers replace Witch Powers, and an introduction to the new Reliquaries battle pass.

Overall, there's much to be excited about for the next Diablo 4 season. Our in-depth Diablo 4 review offers a full rundown of what to expect if you've not started the campaign yet, and our best Diablo 4 builds can help you overcome Sanctuary's biggest threats. Finally, check out the D4 system requirements to ensure you can run the game smoothly.