Diablo Immortal

Diablo Immortal
You know you screwed up badly when you make a mobile game spin-off of a much beloved franchise.
Genre(s): Action RPG MMORPG Platform(s): Windows iOS Android Release Date: NA/EU: June 2, 2022 CHN: July 25, 2022 Developer(s): Activision Blizzard NetEase Publisher(s): Activision Blizzard Country: China Series: Diablo

"Do you guys not have mobile phones?!?!"

— Wyatt Cheng's infamous line during Blizzcon 2018

Diablo Immortal is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online action role-playing game co-developed by Activision Blizzard and NetEase. A mobile game in the Diablo series, it is set between the events of Diablo II and Diablo III. Players control a character of their chosen class: Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Necromancer, Demon Hunter, Crusader, Blood Knight, or Tempest; they must locate and destroy hidden shards of the Worldstone, to prevent Skarn, the Lord of Damnation, from destroying the world of Sanctuary.

Development of Diablo Immortal began with the aim of creating a Diablo game centered around touch controls for those who predominantly played on mobile, but was later expanded to also support game controllers and PC. The game incorporates a business model which allows players to unlock content through microtransactions, though almost all content can also be obtained through gameplay without paying.

The announcement of Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon in 2018 was met with a largely negative response from Diablo fans, who had anticipated a game designed for PC. It was released on Android and iOS on June 2, 2022, for countries mainly outside of the Asia-Pacific region, with a beta release for Windows on the same date. The game's Asia-Pacific release was delayed several days before its original date, with most releases taking place on July 8, 2022, and its China launch on July 25, 2022.

Immortal received mixed reviews, with praise for its combat, graphics, and the adaption of Diablo to mobile, while criticism targeted the plot, voice acting, and the game's focus on microtransactions. It became the lowest user-rated game on Metacritic in response to microtransactions and the progression system. Immortal had the biggest launch in the franchise's history with over ten million downloads, reaching 30 million downloads by the end of July 2022.

Plot

The Worldstone lies shattered, yet great power remains within its corrupted fragments. Power that Diablo’s minions hope to harness to bring about the return of the Lord of Terror. The Archangel Tyrael is presumed dead, and mankind is left to deal with the aftermath of his actions. Fragments of the corrupted Worldstone taint the land, bringing forth ancient evils who are looking to harvest the stone’s power and use it to control humanity.

Why It's Less Than Immortal

1. For starters, making a free-to-play spin-off entry in the Diablo franchise is a very questionable idea for many reasons stated below.
2. Devil-in-the-room: This game is a massive grindfest, and the fact that you have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars (mentioned below) certainly doesn't help matters.
3. Microtransaction abuse:
   • Bellular News estimated that it would take $110,000 to fully upgrade a character, though a Reddit user revealed that it would cost $540,000 just to fully upgrade a character!
   • Twitch streamer Quin69 spent over NZ$25,000 (US$15,000) on the game before he earned his first five-star legendary gem, after which he deleted his account.
   • The five-star drop rate is 1 in 2000, at $25 per loot box containing ten gems.
     • As a matter of fact, there was even a simulator website that shows how many times you spent ($25) to get a five-star legendary gem.
4. The PVP is absolutely broken due to high number of cheaters/bots, with all players leveling up to 100. This mode can be unbeatable because of it.
5. Weak storyline, which is a shame considering that the series usually has great writing and lore.
6. Terrible word-of-mouth: When the game is announced at Blizzcon 2018, fans of the series were extremely upset and disappointed to hear that this game would be a mobile game instead of a mainline entry, which is very understandable considering the franchise's legacy.
   • When fans booed at the mention of an initial "no PC release", Wyatt Cheng chastises them by yelling "Do you guys not have mobile phones?!?!" at them. Sure, many people do have mobile phones, but not all of them play mobile games. This is good enough evidence that he can't handle criticism.
   • Even worse, journalists have sided with Blizzard against these complaints by saying that fans are "entitled to nothing".
7. Mediocre voice acting.
8. The PC version is just a lazy port from mobile due to similar HUD interfaces.
9. While the combat is good, the game can get pretty boring after a while, especially with the grinding mentioned above.
10. Since it got millions of downloads, it's pretty clear that Blizzard will milk this game for all its worth like how Rockstar Games is milking GTA Online, showing just how greedy they are.
11. Overall, this game left a huge stain on the Diablo franchise's reputation until Diablo IV came out in 2023 to positive reception.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Grinding aside, combat is fun as ever.
2. Impressive visuals for mobile standards.
3. At least you can play this game on PC instead of mobile phones, even it's just a lazy port.
4. You can ignore the microtransactions if you want to beat this game.

Reception

Diablo Immortal received mixed reviews from critics, but was heavily review bombed, with a 0.4/10 (iOS) and 0.3/10 (PC) on Metacritic due its heavy microtransactions and hidden mechanics, making it the lowest user-rated game on the site. It was widely considered by fans as the worst game in the franchise.

Despite universally negative fan reception and controversy, Immortal was positively received on Google Play and App Store. It also had the biggest launch in the franchise's history with over ten million downloads in its first month, then reaching 30 million downloads by the end of July 2022.

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