Announcing mobile at Con was a mistake

[GreenJesus]

they fucked up .

their biggest mistake was making this as mobile only

imagine if they announced it as PC game

and then at the end said - but hey - its gonna be cross platorm and you can play it on mobile too

then it would be nothing but positive comments.

Except it's a reskinned Chinese P2W game... it wouldn't be good enough to be on PC.

[Metallourlante]

they fucked up .

their biggest mistake was making this as mobile only

imagine if they announced it as PC game

and then at the end said - but hey - its gonna be cross platorm and you can play it on mobile too

then it would be nothing but positive comments.

They couldn't do it, and you know why? because the game itself it's just a reskin of another game from the company they partnered with. It's not even a full Blizzard project, they just allow this shady company to use the franchise name. That's the saddest part.
Check out the game "crusader of light" if you don't believe me.

[whynotchris]

Too bad it's going to make a lot of money :/

I disagree. Blizzard gets more money, I get better games. I want Blizzard to make as much money as they possibly can because that's more money they can invest into the games I actually play.

It was just a very bad idea to announce it as they did, where they did and I cannot understand how no one told them to stop.

Announcing nothing was better than this. I have no experience in PR or putting together something as big as BlizzCon and even I could have told them it was a horrible, horrible idea to announce a mobile game, any mobile game, at BlizzCon.

[DaHomieG]

I completely agree with you, OP.

Personally, I have no issue with Immortal; it's something to do when you're bored on your phone other than Hearthstone. The main reason it's getting hate is because people were hoping to see another Diablo 3 expansion or potentially Diablo 4.

This should've been announced during E3 or Gamescom or some shit.

[Fus Ro Yay]

Personaly i think their two biggest mistakes were grouping up with NetEase and Not teasing/announcing anything else diablo related.
I imagine just teasing or announcing the next diablo game just after the announcement of Immortal the shitstorm that they are caught in right now wouldn't have happened, or at least would have been diminished greatly.

sidenote: even the chinese gamers are salty- but not because of the mobile aspect, but because of NetEase, that according to them is like EA on steroids.

[Blightrose]

While I wouldnt hesitate to call most of the posters here whining, entitled crybabies, I do agree that Blizzard overhyped this way too much and they are suffering from this now. There was a lot of ways they could have done this without suffering the backlash, let hope this isnt the end of the Diablo franchise.

[Rekz]

While I wouldnt hesitate to call most of the posters here whining, entitled crybabies, I do agree that Blizzard overhyped this way too much and they are suffering from this now. There was a lot of ways they could have done this without suffering the backlash, let hope this isnt the end of the Diablo franchise.

Obviously, Blizzard has other projects in the works but they specifically hyped this game because it's is a new market for them and they wanted their customers focused on this mobile game to make it successful.

What they failed to realize is that most people that went to blizzcon or bought the VT are hardcore pc gamers and some of them spent thousands of dollars to see what Blizz had next and when the only thing introduced was a mobile game, it completely backfired on them.

[Darviex]

Blizzard should have seen this reception coming imo, there's literally nothing new happening for diablo 3 or at least PC/Console side of it.

So what are they upto? We should at least have got something new for Diablo 3 like an expansion, something big.

Nothing close to that is mentioned, instead they bring up a mobile game as the big announcement this year what in reality should've just been a bonus thing. They make themselves look stupid when it seems like we don't get new content because they work on candycrush diablo instead.

And then they try to do damage control by saying not to worry 'cause they are working on unnanounced projects, well then this was a great opportunity to announce, also hiding views/dislikes on youtube videos, looks really bad. Tbh they would've been better of just keeping their mouths shut even if that wouldn't been good either.

[EyelessCrow]

I disagree. Blizzard gets more money, I get better games. I want Blizzard to make as much money as they possibly can because that's more money they can invest into the games I actually play.

It was just a very bad idea to announce it as they did, where they did and I cannot understand how no one told them to stop.

Announcing nothing was better than this. I have no experience in PR or putting together something as big as BlizzCon and even I could have told them it was a horrible, horrible idea to announce a mobile game, any mobile game, at BlizzCon.

It's not Diablocon, it's Blizzcon and it's about all of their games...to be quite honest I love Diablo but that game is dead right now (especially multiplayer, non-existant) and I am not surprised in the least there is nothing going on there, I fully imagine they are doing this to drum up interest before announcing the next entry. Correct me if I am wrong but Diablo III itself wasn't even announced at a Blizzcon, it was in Paris. They can announce whatever they want wherever.

[Elba]

It's a video game. Why shouldn't it be announced at their video game con?

I know people got triggered by the question, but it is true. Everyone owns a phone.

[Kallisto]

I'd actually be really curious to know what Blizzard was thinking going into this.

I'm guessing it goes like this.

It's a game, on a system that plays games, why is it a problem?

You know a logical thought that only people who seem to have a stupid idea of "Phone game = cancer" seem to cry about because they're behind and can't understand that everyone has a phone, it can play games and it has about the same good:shit game ratio as any other platform.

- - - Updated - - -

They got everyone hyped for Diablo at blizzcon told everybody to calm down it's not D4 then everyone is thinking a expansion/character pack and they throw a stupid mobile game that kinda makes Diablo look silly.

They kept telling people NOT to get hyped over the weeks and months leading up to blizzcon. They literally said there wasn't going to be a D4 announcement, or a D3 expansion announcement and rumours regarding a Diablo MMO were false. They also told people months in advance to temper their expectations.

People that went expecting any of the above went knowing they were not getting any of the above or were willfully ignorant.

[Korrah]

Imagine you spent 1000's going to the con with airfare and hotel and tickets to be apart of the exciting new Diablo game announcement and then this is what you got ...LOL...Blizzard is some of the worlds best trolls .

There is a reason they release "manage your expectations" posts = Nothing major is coming.
So blizz had their asses covered.

[Kralljin]

It's a video game. Why shouldn't it be announced at their video game con?

Announcing a mobile game to a Hardcore PC audience is like presenting the newest vegan product on a convention for grill enthuasists.
Sure, they love food and you present food, but it's most certainly not the kind of food they want.

Know your audience, that is the lesson here.

There is a reason they release "manage your expectations" posts = Nothing major is coming.
So blizz had their asses covered.

They really didn't, because people that go to Blizzcon don't go there for a Mobile game.

The fact that they actually took two panels related to that project into their schedule showed that they completely misread the situation, the reaction on the first Panel spoke volumes.
That not a lot of people had an interest in trying the Demo supports this.

[Elba]

Announcing a mobile game to a Hardcore PC audience is like presenting the newest vegan product on a convention for grill enthuasists.
Sure, they love food and you present food, but it's most certainly not the kind of food they want.

Know your audience, that is the lesson here.

Since when is Diablo hardcore? It's a casual click the pixels away game. This elitism is really obnoxious. Games are games. It's all silly hobbies to kill time.

[Kralljin]

Since when is Diablo hardcore? It's a casual click the pixels away game. This elitism is really obnoxious. Games are games. It's all silly hobbies to kill time.

It has nothing to do with hardcore or elitism, that is just bogus, but the core audience for mobile games does not pay 50 Bucks to watch a livestream or buy a ticket for a three digit price and then possibly travel hundreds of miles (or even fly) to Anaheim.

Your view on video games is not neccessarily shared by others.

[McFuu]

The announcement wasn't for those in attendance. It was for investors. We will see come tomorrow how announcing such a title, clearly not meant for western audiences at a western Con, works out for Blizz.

It all depends on how the backlash sits with investors over the weekend. Technically this is a smart move for Blizz, but it's ugly having to imagine major titles on Mobile and knowing they are just to make money.

[Deleted]

It was a terrible idea to announce this at Blizzcon in the way that they did.

I have no problem with Diablo Immortal existing as a side-project aimed primarily towards the Chinese market. That's fine.

It would've been better announced elsewhere, such as at a China-centric gaming convention, or even Gamescon or E3. Not at Blizzcon. The people that attend Blizzcon are die-hard Blizzard fans, so it's safe to say that 99.9% of them are going to be PC gamers, especially since most Blizzcon attendees will play multiple Blizzard IPs/games. They want content that is playable on PC, and don't mind if it's ported to consoles. Nobody has taken issue with D3 being ported to the Nintendo Switch. But content that is strictly available on mobile devices...and not PC? Hell no.

Can you imagine if you were a hardcore Diablo fan and you spent all this money to take time off work, book flights and go to Blizzcon this year, only to be told... that? Fuck, that must've hurt.

You may as well go to an Xbox convention and announce "ok, this content is only available on Nintendo Switch or PS4" for all the goodwill this earned Blizzard this weekend.

Sure we have smartphones, but how many of us are gaming on them? I use my smartphone for lots of things, but gaming isn't one of them. That's what my PC is for.

We (typical Blizzard fans and typical Blizzcon attendees) drop hundreds if not thousands on gaming PC hardware... it's clear what our preference is in such a case. I have no qualms with console players either, consoles are great for what they do. But who wants to play games on a 5" screen with awkward controls? Hardly anybody, unless they have no other choice available to them.

I also have no qualms with Diablo Immortal BUT it is not a true Diablo title to me and it is absolutely not aimed at the Western market. Blizzcon was the wrong place and the wrong time to announce this project. It would've honestly been better to announce nothing at all for Diablo. We would've been disappointed, but we wouldn't be in the same uproar we are right now. We'd just be saying "OK, nothing new for Diablo this year I guess. Maybe next year then." Blizzard isn't obligated to announce new content for each franchise each year, not beyond minor things. Overwatch and HOTS got 1 new hero each and people were happy with that. D3 coulda gotten some minor stuff and people might've been happy with this too, even if we expected something more.

I'm not planning on disliking the videos or downvoting/1 starring the game on app stores like alot of people are. I just plan to ignore it altogether.

Maybe Blizzard will learn from this. Maybe not. They did say there are "multiple" Diablo projects in the works, and they particularly emphasised this in the 2nd Q&A yesterday, possibly to placate the angry crowds. We'll see, but after D3 and this debacle I'm no longer confident in Blizzard... I hope I am proven wrong.

[Eleriol]

Remember when Bethesda did this last E3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkFdqqyI8y4?

Had they done something similar this entire shitshow could have been avoided.

[Rekz]

Yeah, it was bad optics and a case of a company falling for their own hype. It's a little bit like when pro wrestlers become marks for their characters. They just lose touch with the reality of their situation. It's kind of sad for Blizzcon although over the long run I'm sure the mobile game will do fine.

- - - Updated - - -


They have been squeezing the last drops out of IP's that are older than some of the people at the convention. This Blizzcon is significant in that their mainstay IPs are really showing their age.

They need new IPs. And soon.

Absolutely correct. They've squeezed that turnip dry and really don't have a backup plan for the foreseeable besides this mobile game.

I'm sure they have other irons in the fire as well but they're probably nowhere near close to completion and they are certainly not endearing themselves to the once loyal player base.

[Hell-Nicø]

Well, only blizzard in their hubris wouldn't realize how stupid presenting a third party game under the name of one of their most hardcore franchise to a bunch of diehard PC gamer fans that paid a stupid amount to be the and get news about the next PC games blizzard is working on would be.