Diablo 4 players believe they've made a breakthrough discovery in the hunt for a non-existent secret cow level.

As reported back in June, players have been seeking a secret cow level in the game, something that began as an urban myth in the original Diablo but was acknowledged by Blizzard in later games.

Blizzard has so far denied the existence of a cow level in Diablo 4, with general manager Rod Fergusson telling Kinda Funny the development team "wanted to ground [Diablo 4] as much as possible". That hasn't stopped players searching for it, however.

Fan site Wowhead has provided an update on the search, in which one player named Grampa Joe has seemingly gained access to the Forlorn Hovel, a cellar players believe will be the location of a portal to the secret cow level.

Players need to acquire three relics which are then offered to the oxen gods in Ken Bardu in exchange for a secret key. One of those relics is acquired by killing exactly 666 cows in the game, it's now claimed.

Once Grampa Joe seemingly achieved this in their video and gained access to the cellar, slaying the cows inside awarded them a Stamina Potion seemingly in a nod to Diablo 2's Cow King who also drops these. And this is where the trail goes cold again, for now.

According to Chef, the server admin of the Cow Level Secret Finding Discord, players can only obtain one relic per week, though players could trade with each other for the items.

It's hard to know if any of this will amount to much, especially as Blizzard has denied the cow level's existence. Still, it's a compelling story to follow.

As for trading, that won't be possible at the moment anyway as Blizzard has disabled the feature due to a duplication exploit.

The feature was disabled in August due to players amassing billions in gold through duplication, threatening the game's in-game economy. Once again, trading was disabled on 22nd October with a notice on the Blizzard forum: "We've suspended player trading in Diablo 4 until further notice due to a duplication exploit. We are working on a fix to amend this issue and will update you once we've reinstated the ability to trade. We will continue to monitor this activity to ensure a healthy playing experience for all."

It continues: "Any account that engages in gold and item duplication exploits will be actioned in accordance with our End User License Agreement."

Diablo 4's Season of Blood went live last week after a short delay due to "complications".