Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: Diablo Immortal Drama
The fallout from the announcement of Diablo Immortal has been a total mess for everyone involved. Speculation suggested that Blizzard would announce Diablo 4 soon, considering that it’s been over six years since Diablo III released, and over four-and-a-half since the Reaper of Souls expansion arrived. There also appeared to be hints scattered around that an announcement was imminent, which would be made at BlizzCon if they had something.
Unfortunately for the franchise’s most dedicated fans, the Diablo-related “something” they had turned out to be Immortal, a free-to-play mobile game handled by Chinese developer NetEase Games. To say the fanbase didn’t react well was an understatement, something exacerbated among those who saw the initial cinematic trailer, which saved the surprise announcement of the platforms until the end. Both that trailer and the gameplay video have been downvoted below oblivion on YouTube, and fans gave Blizzard a piece of their mind through the Q&A after the announcement, the comments on the videos, and social media.
We’re talking about gamers on the internet, so some outrage has been overboard, especially from those who started a petition to try and get the game cancelled. (This will not happen.) Announcements like this make it easy to think that the company is putting significant resources into a mobile project in lieu of a PC game, though that’s likely not the case here — unlike mobile projects developed in Japan. But it’s tough not to be skeptical about why this is happening, as it’s likely due to Activision wanting games that generate constant streams of revenue. It’s surprising to hear that Blizzard didn’t expect this heated of a reaction.
Blizzard’s developers have spent time doing damage control about the game actually being aimed towards Diablo fans, so it could offer a deep experience. You’ll want to emphasize “could,” though, because it could be made to suck players’ wallets dry. But there’s a new revelation showing how the reaction around Immortal could have gone very differently.
Kotaku learned that an announcement of Diablo 4 was indeed planned for BlizzCon, but Blizzard pulled it mere weeks before the event. Whether this would have been a good thing for them and the audience has been the subject of debate among the gaming press and community, but I’m leaning slightly towards “good.”
For one, it would have held back the furious tide of anger being flung in Blizzard’s direction after Immortal’s announcement. Again, the reaction has been overboard (gamers can’t help themselves), but there are several reasonable fans who don’t like seeing one of their favorite franchises being made as a free-to-play mobile game, due to the pricing schemes involved. The reaction worsened when it appeared that China-based developer NetEase Games was basing the game on their own Endless of God, which is, uh, inspired by the Diablo series. Fans knowing Diablo 4 was on the horizon may have tempered the venom.
In fairness, a Diablo 4 announcement could have also had negative effects, but they would have been comparatively minor. The biggest fear is that it could have hampered the impact of Diablo III: Eternal Collection for Switch, which released last week, and is being labeled as an exemplary port. But the impact wouldn’t have been too bad, since this would have only been an announcement, and not a reveal. It was reportedly planned to be confirmed through a video where Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham would introduce the title, and hint at features it would have. Blizzard is disputing the story that this video would have debuted at BlizzCon, but they didn’t deny it existed. And I’m having trouble imagining where else they could have shown it.
However, there’s one good reason for Blizzard to hold off Diablo 4’s announcement, as specified in the Kotaku article: Its development has been a level of hell. The game has reportedly changed drastically over the past four years of its development cycle, and could change even further. It’s also gone through two iterations under two directors, both of which had alternating visions for the final product.
If you thought that sounded a little familiar, it’s because Diablo 3 also went through issues during development, including after its reveal. Several fans complained loudly about the game’s aesthetics being too colorful compared to the drab palettes used in previous games, which Blizzard slightly dialed down for the final release. The level of outrage from that incident (if you want to call it that) makes the overreaction to Immortal unsurprising.
There’s no way to tell how long it will take for Blizzard to officially confirm Diablo 4. But it appears they want to give it a big reveal instead of merely announcing its existence, something they’ll especially want to do now that we know for sure that it’s coming. In the meantime, this won’t stop the level of rage directed at Immortal every time it’s shown, even though the game will likely do well for both companies involved financially.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
