In anticipation of the game’s second year of hellspawn smashing, Diablo III has just announced that players will receive a 100% bonus to legendary item drops and double the Rift fragments typically given from in-game bounties. The bonus will start at 12:00 a.m. PDT on May 15, the game’s official anniversary launch date, and run until May 22 at 5:00 a.m. PDT.
The addition of Rift fragments in the recent Reaper of Souls expansion allows players to activate randomly generated dungeons for loot and experience. Rift fragments are gathered from bounties, also introduced in Reaper of Souls, which allow players to complete sets of quests throughout the world of Sanctuary outside of the standard campaign mode.
This announcement reads as a heartfelt thanks to players, and aims to “celebrate the game’s second anniversary and the community that made it all possible.” The post confirms that the bonus will only be available on PC and Mac Versions of the game. Blizzard released a console version of Diablo III on September 3, 2013. A console release that includes the recent Reaper of Souls content is slated for August of 2014.
UPDATE 5/21: A recent forum post by a developer announced that Blizzard will continue the new drop rate indefinitely, citing “overwhelming popularity” as key in their decision to make the anniversary bonus the game’s official drop rate.
