Liquid Cooled PC With ‘Real Human Blood’ Lined up as Diablo IV Give Away

News
By Mark Tyson
published

Special Edition custom PC will only be offered if 666 quarts of blood is harvested in US blood drive.

custom liquid cooled PC with human blood
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Blizzard is preparing to give away a “custom liquid-cooled PC infused with real human blood.” This gruesomely powerful PC sweepstakes prize is being dangled in front of fans to promote Diablo IV Season of Blood and encourage blood donations to hospitals in the US.

The outlandish reasoning behind Blizzard’s bloody PC sweepstakes is that from Oct 20 to Nov 20, 2023, it will encourage gamers in the US to visit blood donation centers in the US. It is hoped that those donating blood and logging their contribution will exceed 666 quarts (or more) of blood harvested before the time is up. At that point, a sweepstake prize of the liquid-cooled PC with “real human blood” will go live. There are a number of other ‘Blood Harvest’ goals between 0 and 666 quarts, as follows:

220 quarts. All players will receive weapon cosmetics including a Dagger: Bloodpetal Anlace, Axe: Bloodpetal Sever, Necromancer Focus: Bloodpetal Heart, Sword: Bloodpetal Blade, and Druid Staff: Bloodpetal Bludgeon.

440 quarts. All players will receive the Loch Raeth Maor Barbarian Armor Cosmetic plus the weapon cosmetics mentioned previously.

666 quarts. All players will receive the above plus the Vermilion Eye Piebald Mount. Additionally, the headlining sweepstakes to win the custom real human blood-infused PC will unlock (US gamers, aged 18 plus).

Unlocks will occur on Nov 22.

Image 1 of 2
custom liquid cooled PC with human blood
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Progress - already at 21%

Blood Infused PC Details

Thankfully, we have more details about the PC, beyond its blood infused nature. Blizzard says that the PC is powered by the following potent components:

  • Intel Core i9 13900K CPU
  • Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU
  • 64 GB of DDR5 RAM
  • 3 TB of NVMe M.2 SSD Storage
  • EK-Quantum Vector GPU Waterblock
  • Case with signature Diablo color palette with custom Season of Blood graphics

Having human blood floating around the liquid cooling loop seems unlikely, even in this already unlikely scenario. We reckon it would be more likely that some dehydrated blood is used as a paint pigment, behind a gloss coating, or something like that. An FAQ about the promotion is available which should clear up all your other questions.

Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
Freelance News Writer

Mark Tyson is a Freelance News Writer at Tom's Hardware US. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

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22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bit_user
    Of all the things you could put in a liquid cooling loop, blood would be one of the worst - not only because it'd be a feast for microbial growth, but before that it would probably form clots that constrict flow around vital areas, like in the pump or CPU waterblock.

    We reckon it would be more likely that some dehydrated blood is used as a paint pigment, behind a gloss coating, or something like that.
    Right. Or, maybe some highly-refined extract could be mixed in. I'm noting the word "infused", which means it's not entirely blood. It could be infused with an arbitrarily small amount.

    Furthermore, the only way it'd be ethical to divert actual human blood from the blood supply is if they used banked blood that was being discarded, due to its age (the stuff only stays viable for so long...). That would also make sense of their appeal for blood donations.

    Anyway, I'm sure there are pesky laws and regulations that would get in the way of using potentially biohazardous materials in consumer goods. I think medical waste is pretty heavily-regulated.
    Reply
  • King_V
    Reply
  • ex_bubblehead
    Hey Blizzard, I think the FDA and other federal agencies would like to have a word with you.

    No way anything even remotely biological in nature is allowed to be used in this manner.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    And thence comes the lawsuit, whereby someone dissects this, and finds absolutely no trace of anything "blood".
    Reply
  • Sippincider
    USAFRet said:
    And thence comes the lawsuit, whereby someone dissects this, and finds absolutely no trace of anything "blood".

    Likely they'll have all the disclaimers figured out. "May contain up to" some unmeasurable ratio.

    Anyway if this is allowed, imagine the possibilities! Athletes could license PCs with their sweat in the cooling fluid! Celebrity and politician DNA too! Or what could be more personalized than your own DNA?

    Maybe we'd be better off without this...
    Reply
  • _Shatta_AD_
    Sippincider said:
    Likely they'll have all the disclaimers figured out. "May contain up to" some unmeasurable ratio.

    Anyway if this is allowed, imagine the possibilities! Athletes could license PCs with their sweat in the cooling fluid! Celebrity and politician DNA too! Or what could be more personalized than your own DNA?

    Maybe we'd be better off without this...
    Probably not from a consumer electronics sale point of view but no one can stop you from painting your own PC with your own blood, today (It’s gross and unhygienic yes and no one should do it really, just hypothetically). You could personalize it however intimately as you want, DNA and all. You just can’t transfer/sell it to anyone else.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    _Shatta_AD_ said:
    no one can stop you from painting your own PC with your own blood,
    That's a horrible idea. Dried blood turns almost black. It cracks, smells, and in enough humidity, will rot.

    Let's please stop pretending there are any good ideas here that involve actual blood - human or otherwise.
    Reply
  • thx1138v2
    I remember seeing an article a long time ago that there was a Cray 2 advertised as being cooled with blood because the blood would absorb more heat than water. More research turned up that is was cooled with a blood substitute developed by 3M which transported the heat more efficiently. The substitute was called Fluorinert.

    search for "super computer cooled with blood plasma"
    Reply
  • sitehostplus
    USAFRet said:
    And thence comes the lawsuit, whereby someone dissects this, and finds absolutely no trace of anything "blood".
    Sounds like the plot for the next Gamers Nexus video. Someone gives them the PC, and they put it through a spectrum analyzer to find out if there is actually any human blood in it. 🤣
    Reply
  • Phaaze88
    Wow, the marketing for this game is really gone to hell.
    Reply