The announcement of Diablo Immortal did not go as well as Blizzard had hoped. New reports suggest that Diablo Immortal was apparently not planned for the West at all.
Insiders talk about Diablo Immortal: Some active and former employees of Blizzard have unofficially spoken with the U.S. site Kotaku. The discussions also included Diablo Immortal and the fact that the mobile game was actually developed for China.
Diablo Immortal was intended to be released only in China
Mobile games perform better in China: According to insiders, the mobile game Diablo Immortal was actually planned to be released only in China initially. After a few months or a year, it was supposed to be released in the West.
The hurdle for mobile games is significantly lower in China than in the West. What here would pass as an “alpha phase” would already be a complete game in China. Thus, the Chinese version could serve as a “test”.
Why is Diablo Immortal now being released in the West? One of the reasons why Diablo Immortal was announced for all players at BlizzCon 2018 is Blizzard’s motto “think globally”. Games should be released in as many languages as possible so that many players can play them.
However, discussions with Kotaku also indicate that Activision’s growing influence on Blizzard may have played a role. Since Overwatch, there has not been another hit. There is no longer time and money for large projects that might even be canceled.
Activision’s influence and the money: This actually runs counter to Blizzard’s principles of taking time for games. Activision exerts such strong pressure for success on Blizzard to generate money. And Diablo has always had problems.
With Overwatch and Hearthstone, it’s easier with loot boxes and card packs. With Diablo Immortal, the team hopes primarily for success through China that at least satisfies Activision a little. However, it is also said that the developers want to work on Immortal.
Why mobile at all? Mobile games are particularly popular in China. Blizzard has been collaborating with the Chinese company NetEase since Diablo 3, which released Diablo 3 in China.
In collaboration with NetEase, Blizzard eventually decided in 2016 or 2017 to create Diablo Immortal – a game only for smartphones. A developer told Kotaku about this:
In essence, [Diablo Immortal] exists because we have heard that China really wants it. It is intended for China.
However, Blizzard has long been poised to move towards mobile. Many employees are mobile gamers and a mobile version of Warcraft seems to be in the works.
It won’t be “just mobile”: Despite the grim outlook for PC gamers, Blizzard apparently does not intend to develop only for mobile platforms. Under the codename “Fenris”, Diablo 4 is even reportedly in development.
However, “Fenris” is still in early development and according to information from Kotaku, Diablo 4 should not be expected before 2020.
How reliable is the information? All statements were made by employees or former employees of Blizzard who are not authorized to speak to the press. They cannot therefore be officially confirmed.
However, the Kotaku author Jason Schreier is a known figure in gaming journalism and is considered a reliable source.
Despite all the bad omens, Diablo Immortal might not be so bad after all: 5 reasons why Diablo Immortal will be better than many now fear.
