After announcing the arrival of Diablo: Immortal for mobile devices, Blizzard was hit by tons of negative comments and reactions from its community of players. The trailers for the game have received a disproportionate amount of dislikes over likes, both for its cinematic trailer and gameplay trailer. One attendee at BlizzCon even asked if the game’s announcement was “an out-of-season April Fool’s joke.” The negative response, IGN says, most likely stems from long-standing rumours surrounding new Diablo games coming with some assuming Diablo 4 was on its way. Some are also concerned about how Diablo: Immortal looks similar to a previously released NetEase mobile game called Endless of God.
Blizzard’s Wyatt Cheng spoke to IGN at BlizzCon to respond to the negative reaction. Cheng said, “I don’t think mobile should be a dirty word. 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.”
When asked about the games is just a reskin of Endless of God, Cheng said, “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.”