The fallout from this weekend’s BlizzCon, which saw Blizzard vexing core fans by ending its opening ceremony with news of a Diablo-themed mobile game, has yet to abate. However, a new report suggests that Blizzard had, at one point, intended to close with word on Diablo 4.
Much of the backlash following Friday’s Diablo: Immortal announcement seems borne of a sense that Blizzard is wilfully neglecting its core audience in favour of a new casual market by prioritising mobile over PC. And many have suggested the outcry could have been avoided if Blizzard had accompanied Immortal’s unveiling with news of the next mainline Diablo game.
According to a report by Kotaku, however, that’s precisely what Blizzard had originally intended to do, following its Immortal segment with a video in which company co-founder Allen Adham would reveal that Diablo 4 was in the works but not yet ready to be shown. Sources told Kotaku that this initial plan only changed within the last couple of weeks, and occurred because the Diablo team – which has purportedly already seen two different iterations of its new game under different directors – is not yet ready to commit to an official announcement.
Source: Eurogamer Blizzard reportedly originally planned to announce Diablo 4 at BlizzCon