No Diablo 4

[Gourmandise]

If they don't go home tonight, stick any D4 screenshots and videos they have on a flash drive, and display them tomorrow. I don't know what will save them.

i feel bad for wyatt cheng. imagine all the hype for diablo announcement especially since its a first day announcement on mythic stage only to release a phone game made by netease, he looked and sounded like he was on the verge of tears. i hope he's ok.

Everyone pray he doesnt hang himself tonight. I worry.

[Keile]

As much as I like blizzard, I can't defend this shit. Blizzard explicitly said they have multiple projects in the works for diablo and they were gonna announce them end of this year "AKA Blizzcon". and all we got is a shitty mobile diablo 3 clone. They deserve the hate they got and they shouldn't even have announced it as a major announcement.

You can't hype things up only for a mobile game because we all know that the mobile gaming industry is the shittiest place to play games.

I'm with ya on this. I expect so much better from Blizzard. This? This was not just a let down. This was an insult. This was them slapping me, and their other long-time fans, in the face.

And now they are censoring the negativity by reuploading the trailer and changing the link in the B.net launcher to this NEW unlisted one. But they cannot escape the dislikes!

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i feel bad for wyatt cheng. imagine all the hype for diablo announcement especially since its a first day announcement on mythic stage only to release a phone game made by netease, he looked and sounded like he was on the verge of tears. i hope he's ok.

This is 100% not Wyatts fault. I do not fault him at all. This is entirely the executives and other higher ups being greedy and forcing this team to work on this garbage.
So please...do not aim hate at Wyatt...AIM IT AT THE CORPORATE!

[Deleted]

Hehe the funny thing is the game is probably going to be a huge financial success

i dont know i was always think that people play on mobile just those ez game likse farm,and bubles and cards

[Machismo]

THis isn't news... They pretty much came out two weeks ago and said as much.

The Diablo Fans starting theory crafting and inevitable disappointment was going to happen. The fans did it to themselves for listen to jerks offs on Youtube about what they suspect or their "inside" information.

I think you are right that people did manage to get carried away with the hype beforehand. It was clear Diablo was going to be front and center for this Blizzcon. Their imaginations got the best of them, and they should have had tempered expectations.

That being said, the divide between PC gamers, console gamers, and mobile gamers is very much real. PC gamers are snobbish assholes (I'm one of them), and tend to look down upon console gamers. Console gamers love to pick a favorite betweeen Xbox and Playstation. Both groups look down on mobile gamers, and really don't even consider them to be gamers.

Now, that doesn't meant he game won't do well, it will probably sell quite well. It's just not going to be the game that PC gamers and console gamers really want. DO you think Blizzard is going to convince them all to jump ship and go mobile for 6-8 hours a day like they do for WoW?

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If they don't go home tonight, stick any D4 screenshots and videos they have on a flash drive, and display them tomorrow. I don't know what will save them.



Everyone pray he doesnt hang himself tonight. I worry.

I can guarantee they are having multiple meetings behind the scenes right now for damage control. And yes, this is an emergency for the organizers of Blizzcon. Blizzard has made a name for itself, and relies on separating itself fro other labels. When other companies were going for the big electronic conferences, Blizzard said they were going to go rogue, and have their own... all by themselves. It worked, and it's been huge for them over the years. They have largely dominated a market for 14 years, (even more for Diablo), and this is just one of a series of mistakes. Mind you, this may be the biggest one yet, even bigger than the abortion that was WoD. The issue with this debacle, is that it's more of an indictment of the company itself, and not the vision for a singular game.

[Alexieel]

For your entertainment. I am losing my shit. This is garbage. From what I was told you could hear a pin drop in the room when they announced it.

Yep, no cheer, no hype, just disappointment and the question "so thats all ... ?"

[Gourmandise]

Super Snip.

I mean I don't know if it's around RealID levels but I'm excited to see what the response is.

[Puupi]

If they don't go home tonight, stick any D4 screenshots and videos they have on a flash drive, and display them tomorrow. I don't know what will save them.

Now this is something I have been seeing multiple people say. Stuff like "show what you got on D4 this far, just an announcement or anything".

People assume they are working on D4, but the truth probably is that they aren't even working on it at all. There is NOTHING to show, NOTHING to promise.

[Beazy]

I love how people think all the new employees and artists hired over the last year are working on D4. . .

LoL they are working on mobile microtransaction skins. They are working on getting the 29.99 'WITCH DOCTOR" pack ready.

[Coombs]

If Blizzard is featuring Diablo 3 ahead of everything in Blizzcon for a netflix series I will laugh my ass off and lose any and all faith left in Blizzard.

I don't expect anything special with Diablo (surely not Diablo 4), but I mean, come on. There has to be something.

It was worse than either of us could have imagined.

[Gourmandise]

I'm crying right now bros. We were supposed to win the Blizzardbowl this year. Instead we've become the laughing stock of the blizzard world.

Even starcraft is laughing at us bros

This first comment was so over the top at the time and yet now it doesn't even begin to convey how embarassing things are. Laughing stock of the gaming world, more like it.

[therealbowser]

It was worse than either of us could have imagined.

No kidding... wow... I am still at a loss for words.

[endersblade]

I didn't expect D4. I expected D1 or D2 remaster, or maybe another class for D3 at best. I laughed at the people making jokes about a mobile game...and then it happened. I didn't laugh. I just shook my head.

[Polygons]

I'd happily replay Diablo 2 over Diablo Immortal...

[Torrasque]

I would have preferred a PC port of Immortal. But, I have no interesting in buying a mobile game...

[Fabray]

I would have preferred a PC port of Immortal. But, I have no interesting in buying a mobile game...

How is this a thing? It’s a dumbed down version of 3, why would you ever want this on PC? Mobile Diablo is the whole point.

[ryanmahaffe]

How is this a thing? It’s a dumbed down version of 3, why would you ever want this on PC? Mobile Diablo is the whole point.

Because it is still new content with more mmo like elements. It would still be preferable to play it on PC than it would be to play on Mobile.

[Kathranis]

I would have preferred a PC port of Immortal. But, I have no interesting in buying a mobile game...

Here's the thing, we know they're working on a new PC Diablo game because they're openly hiring for it.

They have job listings for two unnanounced projects on their careers page, one is an "Unnannounced Diablo Project" with listings that specifically require experience with PC APIs, AAA game engines, etc., including several listings that point to the development of new internal tools, which points to a new game engine.

The other unannounced project is an "Upcoming Mobile Game," with listings that specifically require experience with iOS and Android development, and even listings that involve implementing outsourced art assets and dealing with third party vendors. This game is obviously Diablo Immortal and third party vendor is obviously Netease.


However, whatever the big PC Diablo game is, it's still super far out. Like, so far out that they're still hiring team leads and producers.


I don't think there's any point in porting Immortal to PC, since for all intents and purposes it's a simplified version of Diablo III. They probably have long term plans to support it (more classes, campaigns, etc.), especially given the name. If I had to guess, they want Diablo Immortal to exist simultaneously and probably synergize with whatever there next big Diablo project is.


Now, they could probably do something like Diablo III: Immortal Edition, adding the Immortal campaign and whatever other new features to it. Maybe make it F2P, with a microtransaction-supported monetization model, so that they have financial incentive to keep supporting the game.

HOWEVER, they probably don't want sink the resources into turning Diablo III into a monetized "game as service" platform, because they're already starting work on the next entry in the franchise which is going to replace it. See, their big problem with Diablo III is that, even though it sold well, they don't really have a good way to monetize it, which means there's not a good reason to support it with new development. That's what the Auction House was supposed to do, but they had to scrap it, leaving the game without a way to continually generate new revenue. I think if the Necromancer pack had been a success, they'd probably have done more class packs, but since we haven't seen more, I have to assume that sales didn't meet their expectations.


So basically, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. There is a strong demand for new Diablo content, they have Diablo content in the works but it isn't ready to publically unveil, and they're working with a third party vendor to develop a new mobile game that isn't going to appeal to their core demographic.

So, what do they do? Do they announce projects that are too early to show, knowing that they'll be in development for years or could even wind up delayed or cancelled? Announce the mobile game that isn't what their fans really want? Announce nothing for the second year in a row?


Personally, I'm of the opinion that they should have profusely apologized, promised the world that something new is coming "when it's ready" because they don't want to show it off until it reaches the level of polish they're known for, and then offered up Immortal as, essentially, something to tide players over until they can announce new projects.

[Deleted]

I've lost hope in Blizz and figured I will do my own Diablo IV. Just as a deviantart story, but still. If I wait, I'll wait 10 more years. And it will suck.

[MoanaLisa]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that they should have profusely apologized, promised the world that something new is coming "when it's ready" because they don't want to show it off until it reaches the level of polish they're known for, and then offered up Immortal as, essentially, something to tide players over until they can announce new projects.

Said this in another thread but Blizzard could have done themselves a very great favor by sending Wyatt out on Saturday's panel with permission to drop a headline about any one of the PC projects they have going. No promise as to date or even content but anything would have changed the conversation. This is the standard way that Blizzard deals with things though: bureaucracy and decisions made about what to talk about are decisions they generally stick with. So instead of changing the narrative off the mobile game to something else they'll get beat up for weeks/months. Some really smart floor producer would have gone to Morhaime, Adham or Brack (or all three via text) and worked out 10 words that Wyatt could have said. That they didn't tells you they have no improvisational response chops at all. Wyatt is a little stiff in any case but surely someone could have given him a 3x5 card with a few words on it and boom. We're talking about that instead of this.

It's all consensus first and then say something. It worked against them in this case.

[Kathranis]

Said this in another thread but Blizzard could have done themselves a very great favor by sending Wyatt out on Saturday's panel with permission to drop a headline about any one of the PC projects they have going. No promise as to date or even content but anything would have changed the conversation. This is the standard way that Blizzard deals with things though: bureaucracy and decisions made about what to talk about are decisions they generally stick with. So instead of changing the narrative off the mobile game to something else they'll get beat up for weeks/months. Some really smart floor producer would have gone to Morhaime, Adham or Brack (or all three via text) and worked out 10 words that Wyatt could have said. That they didn't tells you they have no improvisational response chops at all. Wyatt is a little stiff in any case but surely someone could have given him a 3x5 card with a few words on it and boom. We're talking about that instead of this.

It's all consensus first and then say something. It worked against them in this case.

Yes, absolutely. I said in another post just a few minutes ago that Blizzard is a monumentally slow company. They don't haphazardly do anything, everything is calculated.

It definitely seems like they didn't expect Diablo Immortal to provoke such a negative response, though I think that has very little to do with Diablo Immortal and everything to do with the complete lack of any other announcement to soften the blow.

Of course, Blizzard is also very insular and in general I think there are a lot of producers and executives on the West Coast that are out of touch when it comes to mobile games. I think they just don't realize that despite mobile being a massive market, it doesn't share a huge overlap with core gamers. Hell, I still remember around the time Allen Adham's return was announced, when they said he would be heading up their new incubator department, he mentioned being interested in developing for mobile, and then seemed a bit perplexed that the word wasn't met with a cheer.

In that regard, I hope this is a learning moment for them. They've had backlash before, but I think this is the first time Blizzard has ever really taken a beating quite like this. Adham seems to be the one doing damage control, and it appears he understands what went wrong and what fans want. At least, he seems to recognize that the main problem in this case was their messaging and inability to manage the expectations of their audience.