Controversial release of Diablo Immortal
Quite some time has passed since Blizzard first publicized the development and planned release of Diablo Immortal Back at BlizzCon 2018. That announcement didn’t go down too well with most fans. However, many seem to have softened their stance and developed a genuine interest.
The emotional responses are to be expected when considering the success of the Diablo franchise. This adds an extra bit of pressure on developers who will have to work to satisfy the desires of their veteran audience. At the same time, they will need to try to pull in new players.
Alpha demo and beta testing of Diablo Immortal
In order to get this right, Blizzard Entertainment and its partner in the development of Diablo Immortal – NetEase Games – went straight to the players for advice. This was done via an exclusive public alpha demo of the game that ran from December 2020 to January 2021. The Android exclusive beta testing went live on the 28th of October 2021.
“At the end of our Technical Alpha, we looked at every single piece of feedback we got … We basically did a summit where we had all the team on a Zoom, and I was sharing my screen, and we just went line-by-line” started Diablo Immortal’s lead game producer, Caleb Arseneaux.
The Plot and Gameplay
The timeline of Diablo Immortal’s story is set 5 years after Diablo 2, but well prior to the start of Diablo 3. This nestles the title nicely into the existing storyline. In staying true to the games that came before Diablo Immortal, it is from interacting with the wise old man, Deckard Cain, that players learn of their quest. Their job is to locate and destroy pieces of the World Stone in order to prevent the impending disaster.
The graphics are better than those of Diablo 2. However, one shouldn’t expect a Diablo 3 level of sleekness to them. Diablo Immortal players will have six character classes to choose from and the game will also feature new areas. Furthermore, being an MMO title means that this version of Diablo will naturally have a greater focus on the multiplayer side of things. Hopefully, this won’t disturb the single-player value that the Diablo series has always had.
Closing notes
It is quite interesting that a game that was initially so harshly received that it even negatively affected Activision’s stocks is now one of the most anticipated titles. It’s also great to see developer teams that actively engage in discussions with the gaming community to develop products that the consumers want. Let’s hope that the democratic approach to game development leads to fruitful results.
