This past week NetEase, Blizzard's partner in China for localized publishing, officially delayed the release of Diablo Immortal. Originally scheduled to launch on June 23, NetEase's explanation for the delay was in order to address a variety of technical issues impacting the game's performance. However, there may have been another reason for Diablo Immortal's delay revolving around an alleged post to the game's Weibo social media account that mocked China's President Xi Jinping.On May 22, the Diablo Immortal Weibo account was accused of making a post that translates to, "Why hasn't the bear stepped down." As for context, "bear" in Chinese is a term often used to describe incompetence and cowardice, particularly revolving around politics. It's also a word frequently used to disparage President Jinping, who can be insultingly referred to as Pooh Bear. The message is assumed to be asking when President Jinping will step down.It's perhaps unsurprising that the alleged post from the Diablo Immortal account has led to a massive negative reaction within China. Social media is heavily regulated in the country, and criticism of public figures and politicians can have dramatic ramifications. Nationalism also leads many users on social media to respond to political criticism aggressively, as evidenced by review bombing of international games that are even tacitly associated with criticism of China or President Jinping.
Inflaming the situation is the fact that President Jinping is expected to start his third term at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, to be held later this year. Critics have called for President Jinping to "step down," like in the alleged Diablo Immortal tweet, and for new leadership within the country. This political movement is frequently reacted to with hostility on Weibo and other social media platforms.
As for how Diablo Immortal fits into the situation, it's unclear what will happen going forward. Video games in China face an incredible amount of scrutiny in order to be approved. Any controversy associated with a project typically leads to it not being approved for release. However, there's no official confirmation of Diablo Immortal being banned in China at this time. That doesn't necessarily mean it will eventually be released, though, either.
There's some question over the veracity of the alleged Diablo Immortal Weibo post. There's some speculation online that it was faked as a way to undercut Diablo Immortal's launch in China, due to anger over the game's heavy monetization. Suffice to say, the situation is incredibly complicated, and there's no simple way to capture the situation or what may happen next.
Diablo Immortal is available now on PC, as well as iOS and Android devices.
Source: RFA