Diablo Immortal was announced yesterday, during the BlizzCon 2018 opening ceremony. You would think that Blizzard believes in the "save the best for last" rule, but it's not the case. Revealing a mobile
Diablo game didn't please the fandom, to say the least. While many fans were hoping to see a
Diablo III sequel they've been waiting for since 2012, they witnessed the reveal of a mobile game.
A day after the unfortunate announcement,
Diablo Immortal's YouTube reveal trailer is currently sitting at a staggering 96.3% dislike ratio, beating the infamous
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare reveal trailer and even the first
Ghostbusters 2016 official trailer. In an interview with IGN, Blizzard’s Wyatt Cheng has decided to respond to the community reaction to
Diablo: Immortal’s announcement.
"I
don’t think mobile should be a dirty word,” Cheng said, explaining that the developers at Blizzard play and enjoy games on all platforms. “
When it came to looking at making a new Diablo game, and this opportunity to partner with NetEase to make this – the technology is there, where our mobile phones are more powerful than ever, and they’re capable of top tier gaming experiences.”
It's clear that Blizzard has made a big marketing mistake by announcing the title at the expo that used to be focused on the fandoms of Blizzard's biggest brands. Those fans (who paid to attend the show) are usually hardcore players who don't have desire to play
Diablo on their smartphones, when they can sit in a comfortable chair and watch their favorite games on a 55" TV. The fact that Blizzard is deleting all negative comments under the aforementioned trailer doesn't improve the complicated situation.
Enter the world of Diablo Immortal, a new entry in the Diablo universe. Taking place between the events of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and Diablo III, this mobile massively multiplayer online ARPG is a true Diablo hack-and-slash adventure, all in the palm of your hand.
Diablo Immortal will launch for iOS and Android in 2019.