Diablo IV accused of ripping off God of War with Barbarian design
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but as we've seen in the gaming world, some can take it a little too far. While BioShock being a spiritual successor to System Shock is all well and good, Mr. Wimpy is clearly a BurgerTime knock-off.
Now, Blizzard Entertainment is accused of ripping off Sony Santa Monica's God of War with Diablo IV. The action-RPG is slashing its way toward its June 6 release date, meaning Blizzard is going all out with its marketing. However, fans have noticed a questionable similarity to a certain Ghost of Sparta.
Diablo IV accused of ripping off God of War
Ah, we see what you did there. When sharing a gameplay video for Diablo IV's Barbarian class, it became apparent that the character model used looked a lot like good ol' Kratos - albeit with a tan. It's not as bad as Xbox's War Gods Zeus of Child, but it's still funny.
The Twitterverse soon exploded with similar comparisons. One joked, "Mom, mom, I want Kratos in Diablo IV. - We have Kratos at home," while another added, "Discount Kratos is in Diablo IV? *confused Jackie Chan face*"
A third concluded, "When I first saw this image online I didn't know it was for Diablo IV. Why does the Barbarian class look like a budget Kratos?" It's ironic that God of War's David Jaffe confirmed on his blog that Kratos was going to be blue but had to be changed due to his similarities to Diablo II's Barbarian.
Reminding us of this, someone concluded, "It's funny reading all the comments thinking it's just Kratos when the Diablo Barbarian with this tattoo design came out 5 years before the first God of War did lol."
Fan shows off an impressive God of War build in Diablo IV
This isn't the first time the Barbarian and Kratos have been compared to each other. During the Diablo IV Beta, Reddit user u/The_Fassbender showed off an impressive Barbarian build that used the character creator to pay homage to Kratos' pale skin and red tattoos.
As the name suggests, the Barbarian is the physically strongest class in the game. Still, some post-Beta tweaks have confirmed (via GamesRadar) the Barbarian is getting a buff that includes a flat 10% damage reduction that has been "re-evaluated for melee character difficulty."
The Barbarian class will continue to be a popular one in Diablo IV, so we imagine this isn't the first or last time someone tries to make their warrior look like the bearded brute from God of War. Thankfully, we're pretty sure Blizzard is safe from any plagiarism lawsuits.
