Blizzard announced Diablo Immortal, an MMO set between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, at BlizzCon thus year to a less than enthusiastic reception. This may seem odd at first, since Diablo is so beloved as a series and an MMO seems like a good idea. Well the reason is simple: Diablo Immortal is a mobile game.
The reaction to the announcement was not pleasant and rather than be cheered heavily, fans were rather quiet during the presentation despite attempts to hype it up. The trailer has received multiple downvotes on YouTube and many have expressed outrage that this is what Blizzard had for the series. It was felt like the fanbase’s hopes were raised and then dashed. But this shouldn’t be the way the game is seen.
It was later announced that there are multiple Diablo projects in development currently and Diablo Immortal is simply the closest to completion and ready to be shown. The other fact is, this is going to be very big for Blizzard in countries like China and can open them up to new audiences. This will help them get more revenue that will in turn give even more resources for the games you want. These are important markets for any game company and many had eyes on the event.
There will be a Diablo 4, and other Diablo games as Blizzard has said, but there is even more. The more I watched the trailer, the more I thought the game looked rather interesting. Yes , it is based on another game, but it also offers a chance for Blizzard to test and refine ideas for the main games. This could potentially lead to a PC MMO set in Diablo. as well.
I want to also stress that I am not calling the fans whiners and entitled. I may think Diablo Immortal looks interesting, but the way it was announced was not handled the best way. Blizzard had hyped up a Diablo announcement for the event and this was the closing part of the opening presentation and therefore expectations were very high. This also came after an extremely well received announcement of a remaster of Warcraft III, that it felt like the presentation peaked too soon. If Diablo Immortal had been revealed before the announcement of Warcraft III Reforged, and the announcement not so hyped, I feel it would have gone over much better.
I urge you all to give Diablo Immortal a shot. It may not be great or it may be awesome. I will be there to check it out and will withhold judgement till I play.
Disclaimer: The above was the opinion of the author and not that of ROG or its staff,