Blizzard coins 'Meat or Treat' for Diablo 4's upcoming Halloween event and I refuse to say it like that

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Not liking the mouthfeel on this one.

A horned demon with molten lava flesh holding a cleaver and a hook on a dark purple and red background
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Whoever was tasked with naming Diablo 4's upcoming Halloween event must've been proud to come up with a phrase like "Meat or Treat", but I frankly don't like the sound of that and would've at least preferred it the other way around. I suppose it's too late to workshop it a bit more though because the four-day event starts next week.

On October 29, Diablo 4 players who find one of the shrines that normally give you powerful buffs, like temporary invulnerability, will have a chance to receive an additional "surprise effect". The post implies that whatever it is won't necessarily be beneficial. Given that we're forced to call it Meat or Treat because infamous demon boss The Butcher is involved, we might be in for regular visits by him while zooming through dungeons.

If the event is anything like previous seasonal celebrations—normally titled ones like "Midwinter Blight" and "Lunar Awakening"—the surprise effect will probably add a minor inconvenience that will reward you with loot for surviving. Maybe they'll spawn extra enemies to hassle you or something. Blizzard generally avoids unfairly punishing players, especially for events that are supposed to be purely for fun.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Each day the cosmetic shop will offer a new free item, including two horse mounts and two mount trophies. Diablo 4 has the poorest ratio of normal horses to severely messed up ones I've ever seen in a videogame so it should be no surprise that both options look horrifying. Fitting for the event, sure, but I think I'll stick with my healthy-looking tiger.

Diablo 4 events tend to be pretty generous with loot or XP bonuses, so it'll be a good time to hop into the game. Season 6 is underway with all the sweeping changes that make leveling up faster and loot more impactful. The Vessel of Hatred expansion isn't required, but I think it's well worth picking up to play the new spiritborn class with all of its extraordinarily powerful and flashy skills.

Tyler Colp

Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.