Diablo 3 Season 34 is now live after a chain of comic scheduling errors with the game’s latest seasons

Even though Diablo 3 isn’t getting any new season themes, the seasonal cycle has continued and Diablo 3 Season 34 is now live, bringing back the Light’s Calling theme from Season 27. Though Season 34 is running smoothly, it’s been a pretty rocky season transition for Diablo 3, which usually runs like clockwork. First Blizzard ended Season 33 early, then they brought it back up, then they announced the season was officially ending on January 19, then they announced Season 34 would start on January 24, giving the two seasons the typical one week downtime between them. Blizzard pushed Season 34 back a week. and it finally went live on Friday, January 31, 2025 at 5 p.m. PST/CET/KST.

Global Community Director for Diablo Adam Fletcher let us know of the shift:

Ultimately this is a good change, especially if you play both Diablo 3 and Diablo 4… but I still indulged in a “huh??” moment because we knew about this potential season collision from the moment Season 33 kicked off.  You see, even in maintenance mode, Diablo 3 season cycles have followed a consistent three-month schedule starting at Season 30, which ran from January 12 to April 7 ,or 12 weeks and 2 days. This was mirrored by Season 31, running from April 12 to July 7.

Season 32 was the first to run into date conflicts with its successor; the standard three-month window collided with the release of Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred. Instead, it capped off on October 20 after a PTR to test client updates. We had the same conundrum with Season 33 colliding with D4’s rollover into Season 7 on January 21, making it a busy week for Diablo fans — while still taking us back to the clear 12 week (and two day) runtime. This shift will both avoid increasing Season 33’s runtime (since it’s already ended) while giving us some breathing room between D4 Season 7 and D3 Season 34. Still, it’s a last minute change to resolve a scheduling problem we already knew about.

Still, we’ll be enjoying the season when it arrives. Revisiting Season 27’s Light’s Calling (i.e. — Angelic Crucibles) is a fun counter to Seasons 25 and 30 Lords of Hell’s gemstones. The seasonal rewards are similarly recycled: Chapters 1 through 4 will draw from Season 10, with Black Soulstone-themed portraits, the Loremaster pennant, and the Haedrig’s Gift and Conqueror’s set rotations. The higher tiers — Slayer through Guardian — should reward Season 22’s Lost Civilization portrait frame and Book of Cain cosmetic pet.

Hopefully you’re ready to tackle everything now that Season 34 is now live. See you in Sanctuary!

Originally published December 12, 2024; updated January 2331 2025.