Blizzard has been fined over Diablo Immortal, but the amount set for the fine turned out to be quite modest compared to the company's profits. Diablo Immortal is Blizzard's second major game for mobile devices after Hearthstone.
Diablo Immortal is a free-to-play MMORPG with the same dark fantasy aesthetic and demonic enemies as the other games in the series. Set after the events of the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction expansion and before the start of Diablo 3, Diablo Immortal takes place after the battle against Baal. Although Baal has been defeated, Archangel Tyrael had no choice but to destroy the Worldstone, corrupted by the Lord of Destruction. Despite the controversies, Diablo Immortal's launch was positive, with players exploring "dynamic events," dungeons, and facing a wide variety of monsters.
PEGI's Enforcement Committee recently released its decisions related to several cases, and Blizzard was fined €5000 over Diablo Immortal. The fine is due to the company's failure to disclose the presence of loot boxes in Diablo Immortal when the game was submitted for a rating license, which goes against the PEGI Code of Conduct. Diablo Immortal's polemical microtransactions aren't the only big name on the list, however. PEGI also fined Plaion the same amount for Hunt: Showdown Bounty Hunter - Limited Edition, for the same reason as Diablo Immortal. In addition to the fine, Blizzard and Plaion have been told to update all marketing materials to inform the presence of loot boxes in both games.
Diablo Immortal marked the debut of the Diablo franchise on mobile devices, but the game made the headlines for the wrong reasons. In Diablo Immortal players found an aggressive monetization system, with some players spending large sums of money to get a single 5-star item. Another Diablo Immortal player spent over $500,000 to max out a character. Diablo Immortal's microtransactions became one of the biggest video game controversies of 2022, with players comparing Diablo Immortal to Star Wars Battlefront 2, another game known for having very controversial monetization practices.
Although active and receiving new content, the microtransactions controversy inevitably made Diablo Immortal one of the most disappointing games of 2022. Despite this, all was not lost, as the experience with Diablo Immortal has given Blizzard all the directions of what not to do with Diablo 4. One of the most anticipated releases this year, the Diablo 4 Shop will focus solely on cosmetic items.
Diablo Immortal is now available to play on Mobile and PC.
Source: Eurogamer