Promoting the popular game franchise Diablo, video game developer Blizzard has announced a custom liquid-cooled PC, infused with "real human blood" – but there's a catch. Before players can get their hands on this exclusive prize, they must first sacrifice themselves to the "Blood Harvest", a promotional blood drive in honour of the game's latest instalment: Diablo IV: Season of Blood.
Taking place between 20 October to 20 November, the Blood Harvest encourages fans can donate their blood (yes, really) to unlock a host of in-game rewards – and make a small sacrifice for a good cause. Once the harvest is completed players can enter a sweepstake to win the grizzly grand prize, but if you're after a gaming setup that's less of a biohazard, check out our collection of the best gaming PCs.
(Image credit: Blizzard)
In a blog post, Blizzard announced that the Blood Harvest aims to fittingly accumulate a donation of 666 quarts of blood, which it estimates to be around 1,332 donations. The blood drive is only open to players in the US who are over 18, but if you want in on the action fear not. The Blood Harvest is a team effort, with exclusive item drops unlocking at 33%, 66% and 100% goal milestones and fans will gain access to the rewards whether they donate or not.
If you do decide to sacrifice your blood, you won't go unrewarded. At 220 quarts (33%), Tier 1 will unlock a series of weapon cosmetics including the Dagger: Bloodpetal Anlace, Axe: Bloodpetal Sever, Necromancer Focus: Bloodpetal Heart, Sword: Bloodpetal Blade and the Druid Staff: Bloodpetal Bludgeon.
(Image credit: Blizzard)
Tier 2 (66%) kicks it up a notch with the release of the Loch Raeth Maor Barbarian Armor cosmetic and once the vampire master Lord Zir's ritual has been completed, players will unlock The Vermilion Eye Piebald Mount – and of course, the chance to win the coveted blood-infused PC.
While the specifics of the "blood infusion" element are left purposefully vague, the PC boasts a number of superior specs, such as Intel Core i9 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, 3 TB SSD Storage, 64GB of DDR5 RAM and Quantum Vector GPU Waterblock. So even if the PC's creepy blood-cooling capabilities turn out to be regular coolant with a bit of red dye, you're still guaranteed a good game.
The blood fountain is currently filling up, but there are plenty more sacrifices to be made before Lord Zir is satisfied, so if you're keen to be a team player, make sure you log your donation on the Diablo Blood Harvest website. All unlocked rewards will be available to players on 22nd November.
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While this is certainly one of the strangest marketing campaigns I've ever seen, I love that Blizzard is rallying its fans for a good cause that can aid in saving lives, and for something that appears so macabre, it's perfectly (and disturbingly) on theme.
Natalie is Creative Bloq's staff writer. With an eye for trending topics and a passion for internet culture, she brings you the latest in art and design news. A recent English Literature graduate, Natalie enjoys covering the lighter side of the news and brings a fresh and fun take to her articles. Outside of work (if she’s not glued to her phone), she loves all things music and enjoys singing sweet folky tunes.
