Diablo 4 season 1: Start time and date

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Update: Diablo 4 Season 1 is live now.

Starting tomorrow, Diablo 4 will begin its first season, introducing a new character, storyline, and powerful gems to the action RPG.

Season one, the Season of the Malignant, will introduce the Seasonal Realm to the game—not to be confused with the Eternal Realm. It's best to think of them like separate modes: the Eternal Realm is the normal mode and the Seasonal Realm is the rotating seasonal mode.

The first season will run for around three months, which is plenty of time to level up your new character, put together a powerful build using the new Malignant Heart gems, and finish the Seasonal Journey and battle pass. Once the season ends, your Seasonal Realm character will return to the Eternal Realm (minus the Malignant Hearts).

Diablo 4 season 1 launch times

10 am, July 20 (PDT)
1 pm, July 20 (EDT)
6 pm, July 20 (BST)
7 pm, July 20 (CEST)
3 am, July 21 (AEST)

Diablo 4 Malignant Hearts — (Image credit: Blizzard)

You can technically preload season one by downloading the roughly 8GB pre-season patch that dropped yesterday. There are loads of bug fixes, balance changes, and new items that are available now in the Eternal Realm. But for the new storyline and Malignant Hearts, you'll have to make a new character on the Seasonal Realm and finish the campaign (or skip it).

What will and won't carry over from the Eternal Realm to the Seasonal Realm

✅ Campaign skip option (available once you complete it)
✅ Altars of Lilith stat bonuses
✅ Discovered map areas
✅ Renown rewards (XP, potion capacity, skill points, Paragon points)
✅ Armor and weapon transmogs
❌ Eternal Realm characters and items
❌ Partial Campaign progress
❌ Aspects in the Codex of Power
❌ Currency and materials
❌ Stash items
❌ Non-capital Waypoints

There's still time to complete our pre-season checklist so that you can start season 1 with a handful of skill points. Otherwise, take a look at those patch notes and start thinking about what class and build you want to play. And don't worry if you change your mind halfway through, Blizzard just made it much easier to gear up your alts.

Tyler has covered games, games culture, and hardware for over a decade before joining PC Gamer as Associate Editor. He's done in-depth reporting on communities and games as well as criticism for sites like Polygon, Wired, and Waypoint. He's interested in the weird and the fascinating when it comes to games, spending time probing for stories and talking to the people involved. Tyler loves sinking into games like Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and Dark Souls to see what makes them tick and pluck out the parts worth talking about. His goal is to talk about games the way they are: broken, beautiful, and bizarre.