Blizzard Entertainment caused a stir when it announced Diablo Immortal for mobile devices at BlizzCon 2018, leading to an intense backlash that resulted in the company removing comments and dislikes from Diablo Immortal's trailer. Despite this backlash, which included Activision Blizzard stock dropping around the time of its reveal, the MMO ARPG has continued its development, and a new trailer premiered today at ChinaJoy 2020.
The two-and-a-half minute trailer, uploaded to Twitter by Niko Partners Senior Analyst Daniel Ahmad, shows off new gameplay that seems true to the style of classic Diablo games as well as cinematic introductions for the six classes that will be available at launch: Barbarian, Monk, Wizard, Crusader, Demon Hunter, and Necromancer. According to Ahmad, Diablo Immortal is now available for pre-registration in China on iOS and Android devices.
The upcoming mobile game has maintained a relatively low profile since its initial announcement in 2018. One of the last major updates came in February, when Diablo Immortal was confirmed to be entering testing this year by COO Coddy Johnson during Activision Blizzard's Q4 earnings call. Based on the trailer released today, it seems the game is getting ready to officially release sometime soon.
While many were not enthused about the game's initial announcement, leaving even the team at Blizzard surprised by Diablo Immortal's negative reception, it looks to have plenty going for it based on this new trailer. Little bits of information were also put out during BlizzCon 2019, including new gameplay features being introduced such as ultimate attacks players will have access to based on their class.
For those who still feel the series is moving too far from its core appeal, other games have taken on Diablo's style of hack-and-slash dungeon-crawling action since the franchise began in 1997. One of the most recent examples is Mojang's Diablo-inspired Minecraft Dungeons, which was amicably received and is continuing to receive new DLC expansions as of this writing.
This year's China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, also known as ChinaJoy, began today and will go until August 3 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center after organizers decided to still hold it live earlier this year. Many other events have been impacted as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with Bethesda announcing the schedule for QuakeCon at Home earlier this week, indicating its 25th annual convention will be hosted entirely over Twitch.
Diablo Immortal is in development for iOS and Android devices.
Source: ChinaJoy