Actually, Blizzard wanted to talk about Diablo 4 at BlizzCon. According to insiders, this plan was scrapped at the last minute.
The BlizzCon 2018 will likely be long remembered by fans and developers of Blizzard, as it was the first home fair of Blizzard where developers were booed loudly during their presentation. Diablo fans had been expecting a new game to play on their PC, but got “only” Diablo Immortal.
And they almost got a new PC game. Blizzard intended to announce Diablo 4 afterwards, but decided against it at the last moment.
Where does the information come from? The source for these statements is the magazine Kotaku, which relies on “two internal informants.” Kotaku is known for having a good connection to insiders, which is why the source is generally considered credible.
What exactly was said? According to the two insiders, Blizzard planned at BlizzCon to first present Diablo Immortal as scheduled, and then reveal through Allen Adham (a co-founder of Blizzard) that a proper Diablo 4 was also in development. However, the Diablo team was not yet ready to make the announcement, which is why it was canceled at the last moment.
Why did Blizzard retract the announcement? Why Blizzard ultimately decided against announcing Diablo 4 can only be speculated now. It’s likely that the game is simply not in a state where the developers would say it is “guaranteed to release.” After all, Blizzard is known to cancel games if they do not meet their own standards.
So Diablo 4 is said to have already had two different heads, each with different visions for the game. Furthermore, the game has reportedly been in development for over four years. It is quite possible that they still do not have satisfactory, showcase-worthy material. Whether the title will actually be released is also still uncertain.
Exactly the wrong decision: In retrospect, it can probably be said that Blizzard made a clear mistake with this change. The hate and displeasure directed at the developers over Diablo Immortal would likely have been significantly less if they had promised fans a “real” Diablo. As it stands, the “Core Gamers” feel neglected, who have remained loyal to Blizzard on PC for years.
Blizzard contradicts the report
Update 9:20 AM:
This is what Blizzard says: Blizzard has contacted the US site. Although they usually never comment on speculation and rumors, they state in a statement that they have neither retracted an announcement from BlizzCon nor are any further announcements planned. Blizzard emphasizes that they have multiple teams working on several Diablo projects.
Kotaku has since changed the story. They continue to insist that a video was made in which Allen Adham talks about Diablo 4, but are no longer certain that it was definitively planned for BlizzCon.
Do you think the BlizzCon would have gone better if Diablo 4 had at least been mentioned in passing? Or can nothing dampen the “Diablo Mobile” disaster?
