Blizzard has been taking one hell of a beating after it revealed Diablo Immortal over the weekend at Blizzcon 2018. A mobile-only title, it's safe to say that a lot of fans were expecting more from the event's big opening ceremony, which promised to reveal the future of the Diablo franchise.
In an effort to dampen the backlash -- which, let's be honest, is an impossible task at this point -- Blizzard has reiterated that Diablo Immortal is not the only Diablo project that it has in the works. "We have multiple projects -- Diablo projects -- being worked on by multiple teams," Blizzard's Wyatt Cheng said during a panel at the aforementioned convention. "Diablo Immortal is one of those projects we're very excited about, but there are others."
Now, we've known for a while that other Diablo stuff is in development -- Blizzard has said that at least a couple of times. However, we still can't work out why the company didn't soften the blow of Diablo Immortal with a teaser for something else.
Diablo IV is inevitable, but it's pretty crazy how badly Blizzard has judged this entire situation.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 34
Do you guys not have phones?
It was bloody laughable how misjudged Blizzard got the whole thing. Especially when they kept saying that "the community and player feedback is so important to us" yet they obviously weren't listening hard enough.
Let's imagine if Sony ended a PSX conference with a new Last of Us game but it was only for mobile? Social media and these comments would tear Sony to shreds.
Also "Is this an out of season April fool's joke"
@Octane we do.
It's how they announced this title that is causing this trouble.
Saying at your convention that the future of diablo will be revealed soon and then announcing a mobile game kinda comes over as saying that the future for diablo is with mobile,hardly a fun future.
Also most phone games have lot's of micro transactions which this game might also suffer from.
@jdv95 Don't worry, it was a joke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqjVdPtB9lU
Crazy how they got this so wrong. Cant believe after EA and Command and Conquer mobile game they didn't learn anything.
Vocal minority moaning, and Blizzard are smart enough to know that.
Like it or not, mobile gaming can be a goldmine.
That said, I'm not sure the casual audience it'll inevitably attract will have been at Blizzcon.
@Octane ah damnit,I have a hard time sensing memes and stuff,never was into those things
@NintendoFan4Lyf Diablo 3 sold like 30 million copies. If that isn't enough to fund a new game, there's something seriously wrong with their financial department.
And let's be honest, no Activision/Blizzard game needs funding beforehand. They aren't some kind of Kickstarter, they're one of the most profitable entertainment companies out there, with over 2 billion profits each year from MTX alone. They can easily make a game (read: dozens), and let the sales from that title cover the development.
the official translation . Oh ffffffffffffffffffffff that was a disaster quick say anything to try keep the pesants happy. Im convinced these devs think they are living in the medival ages and we are all serfs. But morons will still throw money at them.
@NintendoFan4Lyf if it was a marketing strategy then it was not a good one and I'm sure they would not be deleting comments and the trailers like they have been doing.
this was just a misscalculated move and they can't handle the backlash so they choose to remove the trailer and comments.
But Hey damn the fans right?
Of course Diablo Immortal can be a goldmine and be successful on Mobile but the majority of the audience at Blizzcon are dedicated PC gamers looking for the next PC Diablo game - not a mobile version. They want a new PC game first and fore most and if Blizzard had announced Diablo 4, then announced Diablo Immortal as an aside or even as a lead up to the announcement of Diablo 4, this would have blown over.
Its like EA's C&C too. A new C&C PC/Console game would have made that mobile announcement far more tolerable (or at least forgotten quickly). MS announced some 'mobile' Gears game at E3 too yet they also announced Gears 5. The majority aren't being critical of that mobile game, not really talking about it, because they are focussing on Gears 5. I don't care whether you think Gears is good or not btw, its the principal that's important here.
If both EA and Blizzard had big C&C and Diablo PC/Console game(s) announced, then a version announced for mobiles would not be the focus, would not be being talked about because the audience would be talking about and excited for the return of these to their preferred gaming platform.
@kyleforrester87 In this case I'm not sure it can be classed as a vocal minority. I get where you're coming from, but if we're thinking about how big Diablo's player base is, I imagine the majority aren't fans of this announcement, and that's probably a significant number of people.
That said, I can absolutely see Immortal being a hit regardless of what a lot fans think.
@NintendoFan4Lyf Well, the issue isn't the existence of a mobile Diablo game. The problem is that they hyped up Blizzcon, with things like ''the future of Diablo'' and ''what's next?''. You have passionate fans who are willing to travel across country to hear more about their favourite franchise only to get told ''Do you guys not have phones?''. If they want a cash-grab mobile game for the Asian markets, go ahead, but I don't think Blizzcon is the right place to announce that, especially not in a theater with passionate fans eager to learn more about 'the future of the franchise'.
There's a place and time for everything; Blizzcon was neither.
They obviously didn't see the reaction to the command and conquer mobile presentation. Welp
@NintendoFan4Lyf What would you think wou happen if you start with 5 years ago....
And end with for Mobile.... 😑
Are you really going with games are expensive to make and put Activision Blizzard in there WOW you are clueless.
We all know mobile games can make as much if not more money, the problem is many if not most traditional gamers couldn't care less about mobile. So to announce this purely in front of a hardcore gaming audience was incredibly stupid, did they not see what happened to EA over Command and Conquer?
Blizzard: You guys wanted a true diablo game and not a mobile game that will be riddled with microtransactions? But activision cant make money off destiny and black ops 4 alone. We need money money money money money money money money dollar dollar
Oh, I sure HOPE "dampening the backlash" is an impossible task. When will I live to see a company's announcement properly nuke 3/4 of a respective fandom at once, not just cause a few weeks of internet drama that's described as doing that?
@jdv95 "But Hey damn the fans right?"
Careful with such sarcastic questions lest you should perchance get a completely straight-faced affirmative nod in response.
@Octane
It also plays on tablets...
I can see why these people are REALLY excited about this mobile spin off, all it is is a money making scam. It'll have no quality and care the consumer expects from a blockbuster game. They're not excited about the game, but about the money it'll make.
This is the same Blizzard that put out mobile game Hearthstone 4 years ago, I don't think the fan backlash has bankrupted the company yet, they'll probably survive this too.
@NintendoFan4Lyf I'm pretty sure nobody said "I didn't ask for this" until Jenson from Deus Ex said it. It's been a wicked cool phrase ever since.
One step away from being a big Diablo casino machine, I suspect. Hard to get excited about that if you're not a shareholder. Definitely misjudged their audience. Next year the big announcement could be a Diablo lottery ticket.
It's not a bright idea to announce a mobile game on their pc focused conference after hyping it up themselves. Blizzard fan didn't pay $200 + trip expense just to see a mobile game announcement.
I was at a "better late than never" Halloween party this weekend and I met these two kids, one of them worked for a mobile gaming dev (Too drunk to remember where he worked). But these two guys were stoked about Diablo coming to mobile. They were 23 old, so I think i had my first ever "damn kids are ruining video games" moment in my life. The one kid who worked for the dev said to me "There are no more 2-d shooters out there". I told him that shooters and beat-em ups were making a comeback......and he didn't know what a beat em up was? I can't be the only person who thinks this is odd. I started naming games like double dragon, streets of rage, even Fighting Force and he had no freaking clue what i was talking about. Point is, these damn kids are influencing and ruining everything that I love. I am officially a bitter old gamer at 31. Thank you Blizzard for helping me come to terms with this.
People aren't mad that they are making a mobile game. If this was announced along side diablo 4 or a remaster... there would be no uproar. By announcing only this and having diablo in the forefront, its the message you're sending that this is more important.
All they had to do was announce the other projects and this, and there would have been far less complaining. Maybe no complaining.
Like many others have said, the problem isn't that they announced a mobile Diablo game, but their arrogant attitude and the contempt they showed to their loyal fanbase (who paid and travelled to attend their convention) by making this the headline announcement and not even thinking to mitigate the disappointment by at least announcing a D2 remaster! That is why fans are so mad, and they have every right to be. Blizzard is being incredibly short-sighted treating their fanbase like this, arrogantly assuming that they will blindly stick with them into the future just because they've hitherto made really good games.
After the backlash, the only project they should preferably prioritize working on is Diablo 4. They are treading on some mighty thin ice...
It was a joke of BlizzCon there worst yet and it will go down in history as one of the worst events and worst announcements ever. The hype they did by saying there working the Diablo franchise only got fans like myself is it Diablo 2 Remaster, a new D3 Expansion or Diablo 4 ?? But nope it was Diablo entering the mobile world and shafting every wallet for cash cash cash. This game is a reskin of a Netese (however you spell there name) and it's mainly for the Asian market because the mobile gaming there is huge.
This is not an out of season April Fool's joke. Path of Exiles, the real ARPG, is officially coming out to PS4 this December. 😁
https://youtu.be/gZD8HWCDV2U
So has anyone been able to prove the claim the chinese company they had making this just reskined a previous mobile title?
BlizzCon: is about PC games started for World of Warcraft. WarCraft, Diablo, and StarCraft fans Make up close to 100% of the attendance. This was like going to a PlayStation event only to learn the only announcement is Uncharted is coming to mobile phones. When everyone is looking forward to PS4 news. Dumb stupid and no one in attendance gives a flying flip about mobile games! They all have PC's to play games.
What’s been really interesting is watching which websites, YouTubers etc have conveniently ignored the controversy or are outright defending Bluzzards blunder, sometimes while throwing fans under the bus to boot.
Considering how bad D3 vanilla was, I will wait for a major update before I buy anything from Blizzard
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