It has caused a lot of confusion that the title “Diablo Immortal” was shown so prominently at Blizzcon 2018. The mobile title is incredibly important for the future of Activision Blizzard and for gaming in the West, says our author Schuhmann.
This is the problem: Even well-informed players find it increasingly difficult to understand what the major publishers are actually up to.
Activision Blizzard currently has no major game in the pipeline. Nothing has been announced or is in the works, even though the publisher is one of the largest gaming companies out there.
Sure, 2019 is supposed to see a Call of Duty release and Diablo Immortal has been announced, but otherwise, not much is widely known.
As a result, there are disappointed reactions from players to the publishers’ announcements, and increasingly often shitstorms and conflicts.
The peak of irritation was Blizzcon 2018, when Blizzard presented “Diablo Immortal” as the highlight of the convention, a mobile game in front of a crowd of PC fans who were expecting Diablo 4.
This led to a lot of negative reactions.
The gap between what publishers do and what fans expect from them seems to be growing:
- But why is Diablo Immortal so important for Activision Blizzard?
- And why do we understand less and less about what lies behind the publishers’ actions?
Who Will Conquer the Mobile Market?
The situation of mobile games: Publishers have been grappling with a question for years that core gamers hardly consider: Who will conquer the mobile market in the West?
Publishers have identified the mobile market as the major area that offers growth potential and money. In Asia, massive amounts are already being generated, and the mobile market in the West is also growing rapidly.
However, there is a significant discrepancy here:
- In the West, mobile games are primarily “casual games” like Candy Crush – which has belonged to Activision Blizzard since November 2015. These games target new audiences rather than typical core gamers.
- In Asia, the top mobile games are actually core games – games with considerable depth and more complex mechanics and RPG elements. They also attract new audiences, but they also cater to gamers.
These mobile games are successful in Asia: In Asia, several “typical” game formulas or models have established themselves:
- In Japan, a “hero-collecting” game with anime elements has become extremely successful – “Fate/Grand Order” is a billion hit there
- In China, an unofficial mobile version of League of Legends has established itself as a major revenue generator: Honor of Kings (known here as Arena of Valor) poses a risk of addiction there.
- In South Korea, there is a trend of playing successful, old PC MMORPGs on mobile – like Lineage or Lineage 2. New versions of these franchises also generate a lot of money there. They have almost replaced PC MMORPGs.
These and similar models earn a lot of money in Asia, while here we mainly chase Pokémon or Mario jumps around.
The latest Asian hit from March 2019 was “Perfect World”, a 14-year-old MMORPG that is now shining anew with its Chinese mobile launch.
Behind these hits in Asia are often “classical gaming publishers” like Tencent (LoL), NetEase, Nexon, or NCSoft (Lineage).
Companies that used to only develop for PC and made the leap into the new mobile age.
Additionally, new companies like Netmarble are emerging, focusing specifically on mobile.
In terms of stock values, some of these Asian companies that have successfully made the mobile transition have now exceeded the value of classic Western publishers.
It is clear: Western publishers also want to make this leap. They want to become companies that can also make money in mobile.
And they need to hurry.
The Asians Are Coming
This is what has recently happened: In 2017 and 2018, major Asian publishers tried to make their core mobile games successful in the West.
With significant PR efforts, games like Lineage 2 Revolution and Arena of Valor (Honor of Kings) were brought to the West. They enlisted celebrities like Conan O’Brien or Hearthstone streamers.
However, the major success was lacking.
However, the Western market has come into focus for Asians: Because “Western surprise hits” like “Clash of Clans” or “Clash Royale” come from Finland. The company behind them, Supercell, has already partnered with the Asian giant Tencent in the summer of 2016.
Also, the great success of Fortnite on mobile devices benefits Tencent, as they have a strong stake in Epic.
This is happening right now: In 2019, the established “Western” publishers are now ready and want to make inroads into the core gamer market in the West with their brands:
- Thus, EA presented a Command and Conquer at E3 2018 – previously they had already been active here with the Star Wars license.
- 2019 has already seen the release of “The Elder Scrolls Blades” from Bethesda.
- Above all, however, Activision Blizzard is aiming for a mobile offensive with Diablo Immortal and other titles.
The idea is apparently to use their “strong brands” as a gateway to engage players.
Activision Blizzard’s goal is clear: They want to lead in the mobile sector in the West. Activision Blizzard aims to achieve this by bringing their established core franchises to mobile.
For years, Activision Blizzard has been promulgating the slogan of porting core franchises to mobile:
- Hearthstone can be seen as a first attempt, even if it only came to smartphones a year after the PC release.
- With Diablo Immortal, the first “big attempt” is probably coming soon.
- Afterward, Warcraft is likely to follow, probably as a strategy game.
- Call of Duty Mobile is currently being launched.
Depending on whether this attempt succeeds or not, it could significantly influence the future of gaming here in the West.
In any case, it explains why there has been so little news from Activision Blizzard lately: They are currently working on their mobile offensive.
This is why it is exciting: However, it seems that the West is resisting mobile much more than was the case in Asia. This may already be related to culture. Gaming has evolved differently in both cultural circles since moving away from traditional arcades with gaming machines:
- Many players here in the West have their own consoles with a large TV and setup or high-end gaming PCs.
- In Asia, many people played in public, in PC cafés, on “foreign PCs”.
The “core gamers” here in the West have so far shown resistance to the attempts of Western publishers to forcibly introduce them to mobile. Core gamers in the West often reject the usual payment models on mobile: Many common models appear to them as pay-to-win.
This rejection has been felt one after another by the Western publishers:
- There was a significant initiative against Diablo Immortal.
- For Command and Conquer Rivals at E3 2018 there was much scorn and ridicule against EA.
- And The Elder Scrolls Blades has become a game that polarizes people.
It will be interesting to see how this battle for the Western mobile market plays out. Therefore, Blizzard seems to hesitate with the release of Diablo Immortal.
When Diablo Immortal arrives, it should please core gamers and offer little potential for attack. Because Diablo Immortal will become a key game for Activision Blizzard.
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