10 Things Blizzard Want You To Forget
5. Diablo Immortal Botched Announcement
By the time Blizzcon 2018 rolled around, it had been 6 years since Diablo III's previously mentioned botched launch. In that time, Blizzard worked tirelessly to fix these issues and make Diablo III the dungeon crawler people expected and loved. The excitement for a new Diablo title was palpable. Fans went into the event fully prepared to get hype for a Diablo announcement.
They certainly got a Diablo announcement, but not one anyone was expecting. Or wanted.
Blizzard announced Diablo Immortal, a free to play mobile game. The backlash was vicious, culminating in the now-infamous "Is this a late April fool's" comment during the Q&A. The vitriol that Blizzard employees got for this announcement was unwarranted.
At the end of the day, they are people and nobody should be made to feel that way. But Blizzard's handling of this preventable disaster was laughable.
Hype should not have been built for a new Diablo game if it wasn't a mainline game. If Immortal was announced alongside Diablo IV, nobody would have batted an eye-lid. Instead, expectant fans got slapped in the face with false hope.
When fans are disappointed, however, responding "do you guys not have phones" isn't going to win anyone over.