Few video game legends are as famous and enduring as Diablo's cow levels. In fact, there are no cow levels in Diablo (1997), but rumors of cow levels were so persistent that Blizzard added cow levels to Diablo 2, and later added cow-themed levels to Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft . Wikipedia has an entry dedicated to cow levels, including an entry on "Impact and Legacy."

With that in mind, at least some fans were undoubtedly surprised and disappointed when Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson said there would be no cattle levels in Diablo 4. In an interview with Kinda Funny in May, Fergusson said, "We've focused on making the game as grounded as possible. So there are no secret levels in 'Diablo 4' that people are looking for."

This is a pretty clear statement, backed up by sound reasoning. But not everyone is taking no for an answer: a growing number of Diablo 4 players are looking for the cattle levels that are supposed to be hidden somewhere, relying on clues scattered throughout the game.

Some of the clues are relatively overt, such as Ked Bardu's reference to "Oxen Gods." [such as this bull's head depicted on a Diablo 4 map.

But while some purported clues are clearly mendacious, the search for the elusive ox is becoming an old-fashioned Internet treasure hunt. In this lively Reddit thread, all the important information found so far is tallied, some found in-game, some data-mined.

For me, it is the presence of an item containing a "bloody wooden dagger". . crudely carved on one side with the letter 'W'" and the presence of a badly damaged blue "musty book" cannot be overlooked: the Wirt wooden leg and the Tome of Town Portal are items needed to open a portal to Diablo 2's secret cow level, here.

One Diablo fan, Carpeggios, found the cow search so fascinating that he set up a Discord server to support this activity, called D4 - Not Finding a Cow Level.

"The datamined clues I saw in the Reddit thread were enough to make me want to 'get ahead of the curve. I see other games doing scavenger hunt type content, but a lot of times it's all about finding clues, etc." Even if there is no 'conclusion' to the hunt, I think there are still a lot of people who like to participate, like I saw people participate in things like the Mount Chilliard Conspiracy in GTA5."

Karpesios says that he is not a passionate believer in the Diablo 4 bull and suspects that many others who are immersed in the chase are not either. Instead, he believes that many of them are just looking for something new and fun to do in the community after defeating the campaign. He started Discord for basically the same reason. He said he takes Fergusson's statement about there being no level of secrecy "at face value" but felt that the interactive nature of Discord would make it a better place for the community to gather, share ideas, and have fun.

"I think part of it is that I wanted to participate in a way that I knew how, so I started Discord.

There is no doubt that some of the stories players are digging up are very plausible: either there are secrets deep within Diablo 4 waiting to be discovered, or someone at Blizzard is having a lot of fun at the expense of the players. On the other hand, not every clue is a hot one.

"I think it's at least interesting that there are unique mobs spawning and cows in the area," says Karpesios." While people "seeing cows on the map gives me a serious 'toast yes' vibe. 0]

But trying wild and silly ideas is "part of the fun," and if nothing else, "at least you get memes and funny asides. "Fergusson says "no," and Carpeggios believes it, but Fergusson is right to say so and and we know that he says so, especially when there is a level of cattle.

"'No cattle level' is just an endless staircase of 'real or not.'

"The best time to have a cow level is when all reason points to there being no cow level. So the fun part, at least for me right now, is to just ignore it and do it anyway."

Today, with the addition of a new "cow level search" channel in Sanctuary on the Diablo 4 Community Discord, the cow search has heated up considerably: discussions, theories, screenshots, and cow locations are flying fast and furious, and the overall excitement is palpable! It was a great experience. These players are clearly enjoying the Diablo 4 cow hunt, no matter what Rod Fergusson says.

Karpesios admitted that Sanctuary Discord's new channel makes his server obsolete. He said he will keep his server in case Sanctuary's server doesn't work out, but will not continue to advertise it. He will, however, continue to hunt cows.

"I have a couple of ideas to test. I'm enjoying Diablo 4, but once I hit level 83 I'm slowing down from skinny-dipping, so maybe I'll enjoy it a little more until the seasonal content drops." The community aspect of these scavenger hunts also allows for someone to "accidentally" discover something. Such as a monkey typing endlessly on a typewriter."

Ferguson, unlike Carpeggio, has yet to comment on the growing number of people questioning whether he is being entirely candid about the Diablo 4 bull situation. I asked Blizzard if maybe he has changed his mind about whether there really might be a secret cow somewhere in Diablo 4. Moose is there.

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