Our author Schuhmann believes: The E3 2021 starts with the announcement of the release of Diablo Immortal (iOS/Android) at the Summer Game Fest on Thursday evening. And Blizzard’s mobile game will be significantly larger than many now expect. Because the actual game has been finished for 2 years now, since then Blizzard has been working on the refinement and on content that will come after the release.
This is what we officially know about the release of Diablo Immortal: We don’t know an exact release date for Diablo Immortal, but during the Activision Blizzard investors call on May 4th, it was said:
- The worldwide release of Diablo Immortal is “still” planned for 2021 – It is set to take place in the second half of the year.
- At the moment, Diablo Immortal has entered its second phase of testing, after the initial tests went well. There is a new class, new zones, and endgame content: The endgame is supposed to be richer than in Diablo 3.
Summer Game Fest as a big stage for Blizzard
When will Blizzard announce the release? We at MeinMMO are betting on Thursday evening, June 10, 2021, starting at 8:00 PM. That’s when the “actual E3” show will take place, which, however, will happen outside of E3.
The event “Summer Game Fest” by Geoff Keighley would be the logical and biggest stage where Activision Blizzard could announce the release of Diablo Immortal. Because another Blizzcon will not take place in 2021. The next “Blizzard event” is not planned until 2022, and Diablo Immortal is supposed to be released by then anyway.
It is also known that Blizzard Entertainment will be present at this event: Blizzard might also show something about Overwatch 2 – since Winston appears in the event trailer. But Diablo Immortal is much closer than Overwatch 2.
Blizzard has to announce the release of Diablo Immortal at some point, especially since the launch must happen within the next 6 months and before that, Blizzard is sure to start several “promo” betas.
The alternative to the surprise presentation on June 10 would be a “own announcement” via trailer in the coming months, without this big stage.
Why does Blizzard need 3 years for a mobile game?
This is why there has been so much commotion about the release: For years, it seemed strange why Blizzard was taking so much time with a mobile game.
Because Diablo Immortal was officially introduced at BlizzCon 2018. At that time, there was a harsh backlash for Blizzard, as the audience in the hall wanted information about the “main game Diablo 4” and felt disappointed to be fed information about Diablo Immortal.
At that time, fans even booed the presenters of Diablo Immortal on stage and asked sharp questions: In 2018, that was a novelty for BlizzCon, which had always been a “good mood” fair before.
A report from February 2019 caused irritation. A manager from NetEase, Blizzard’s Chinese partner, stated that Diablo Immortal was “pretty much finished” and would have a release in 2019.
However, Blizzard denied this at BlizzCon 2019 claiming that Diablo Immortal still needed a long time in development. They stated that one should not pay attention to “rumors”.
In retrospect, it seems confusing why Blizzard introduced a mobile game in 2018 that is supposed to come out in 2021. It is possible that Blizzard actually wanted to release Diablo Immortal in 2019 but later decided to significantly expand and enhance the game.
Perhaps the negative feedback at BlizzCon 2018 was a trigger for that.
Diablo Immortal will be significantly larger than many suspect
Why is it taking so long? All interviews with Blizzard employees indicate that Blizzard is putting much time and effort into Diablo Immortal. They do not view it as a “mobile game” that they casually release, but as a full-fledged experience.
The developers at Blizzard announced in a recent interview that they are already working on content that will appear after the release of Diablo Immortal. New classes, zones, and endgame content are already being created.
Apparently, Blizzard is developing the title “Diablo Immortal” as a full “games-as-a-service” game and is already ensuring that the title will be well taken care of even after the release.
It is quite possible that the base game and foundation of Diablo Immortal has been set since 2019, and that the last two years have been spent polishing and refining the game.
Why is Diablo Immortal so important for Blizzard? The title is supposed to help grow the audience for the “Diablo” brand. Apparently, Blizzard is following the pattern that Activision implemented with “Call of Duty”: With Call of Duty, an extremely successful mobile offshoot (“Call of Duty Mobile”) and an equally successful free-to-play offshoot (“Warzone”) revitalized the brand.
Furthermore, Blizzard desperately needs a major hit after a long drought. Since Overwatch was released in 2016, Blizzard has essentially only re-released old games and released expansions. That can’t last forever.
Update June 11, 10:55 AM: No, Diablo Immortal was unfortunately not presented at the Summer Game Fest. Blizzard only showed a segment of Overwatch 2. So we still have to wait for the release.
I am confident: When Diablo Immortal is shown, it will significantly exceed the low expectations of many mobile skeptics. This is also supported by the reactions to the first tests.
Alpha testers about Diablo Immortal: ‘I was surprised at how much I liked it’
