Diablo 4 is launching soon in China, and as a result, there are some adjustments for the game on Chinese servers – especially in terms of visuals. Certain content is not well-received in China. The replacements, however, are quite disappointing.
In 2023, Blizzard and NetEase had a falling out. Consequently, almost all Blizzard titles were banned in China. Diablo 4, which was released in June 2023, was never launched in China.
Now, years later, the release in the land of the rising sun is finally coming, after the two companies have reconciled. On December 12, the official Chinese servers for Diablo 4 will go live. However, the game will look significantly different there.
This will be censored: In China, the treatment of the dead and spiritual themes in general is quite different from what we see in the West. Consequently, there is quite a bit of censorship, especially since Diablo deals with such dark themes.
One of the most prominent examples is the Walking Death, one of the world bosses in the game that regularly spawns on the world map. It is actually a huge skeleton that constantly tears itself apart. Not so in China:
Other representations are also heavily altered, as wowhead has discovered:
- Blood is represented merely as brown dust, even when it comes from animals.
- The Hunter’s Penetrating Shot actually shows two skulls – in China, only two golden masks pierced by an arrow.
- Although there are no images yet, it can be assumed that many enemies and the Necromancer’s minions will also be censored. How this will happen remains to be seen.
Blizzard is essentially “returning to its roots” with Diablo 4 and has created a dark atmosphere with the corresponding visuals, following the rather colorful Diablo 3. The Chinese client won’t see much of that.
Many games look completely different in China
Diablo 4 is not the first Blizzard game to be censored for the Chinese market. The predecessor, Diablo 3, made similar adjustments. For example, skeletons in China wear clothing, while they are bare in the western version.
World of Warcraft also looks significantly different in parts. All undead models have flesh on their bones, including the playable race. Some bosses are suddenly “alive” again and no longer undead, and monstrosities become storm giants.
Even the famous “Path of Glory,” made from the crushed bones of all Draenei slaughtered during the Orc War in Draenor, is merely a paved road in China, rendering an entire quest pointless.
On Reddit, many users are wondering why China has such a problem with this depiction. In a comment, it is stated that all Halloween items in stores depicting skeletons or similar come from China – but suddenly there are problems with the games.
It is, however, unlikely that this censorship will spill over to the West. After all, there are already models for the corresponding NPCs that are unlikely to be replaced. What the future holds remains to be seen, as Blizzard is currently heavily focused on the Chinese market: WoW Classic will primarily focus on China for a year – likely introducing “Classic+” thereafter
