BlizzCon 2018 is in full effects, and there have been many major announcements. One that is setting the internet on fire though is that of Diablo Immortal. For those who haven’t heard, this is going to be a mobile title set in the beloved Diablo universe. It will come out exclusively for Android and iOS, and it’s being developed by NetEase. Upon the reveal, the panel it was shown to was so stunned that only one person responded, and they asked if the game was a joke. It wasn’t.
Since that point, the internet has made it clear that they aren’t fans of Diablo Immortal. They have downvoted the reveal trailer and the gameplay trailer, leaving lots of negative comments about it as well. Blizzard has since responded to these negative comments:
“I don’t think mobile should be a dirty word,” Wyatt Cheng said to IGN. “When it came to looking at making a new Diablo game, and this opportunity to partner with NetEase to make this – the technology is there, where our mobile phones are more powerful than ever, and they’re capable of top tier gaming experiences.”
To be fair, they’re right to say this. However, fans have noticed that NetEase has a very similar game under their own banner, and that this one looks like a reskin of that title, which is part of the reason they’re raging against the machine. Blizzard responded to that too:
“We’ve been working with NetEase Games from the beginning as a partnership to create everything in Diablo: Immortal. We have artists on our side, they have artists on their side, and we work together as a team, as a partnership to create everything about Diablo: Immortal. The environments, the characters, the skills, the story.”
We’ll just have to see how everything goes when the game releases.
It’s good to see Blizzard addressing these concerns and emphasizing the collaborative effort behind Diablo Immortal. Time will tell if the final product can win over the skeptical fanbase.