Blizzard is Eyeballing China with Diablo Immortal

Blizzard has been “reacting” to the news of fans reaction to Diablo Immortal so much that it barely counts as news anymore when they address it. The only reason this reaction matters is because it comes from J. Allen Brack, who recently succeeded Mike Morhaime as CEO of Blizzard, and this little tidbit came up during his very first earnings call.

Plus, earnings calls are always very interesting, because while games industry Mongols are happy to lie to their fans, they’re obligated by law to be honest with shareholders and the like.

That said, since this was about a future product and not an existing one, Blizzard still had lots of ways to spin it. And while Allen Brack acknowledged how fans are hungry for a PC release, it doesn’t change the fact that mobile games are “in”, baby... especially in China, where Blizzard is hoping to capitalize on some brand recognition.
 

"I think that it's clear that there's a lot of players who are eager for more Diablo PC and console content. I think that came through loud and clear from BlizzCon… Frankly we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so much about that franchise."

"Taking a game like Diablo onto that platform in a way that is really reflecting our quality standards, it can open that franchise and other franchises to a global audience, including people who don't have PCs, or especially in China, where Blizzard is a very, very strong Western brand.”

He also reiterated the same ol’ line about multiple teams and multiple projects and yatta yatta yatta. The real interesting nugget here is the Chinese bit: Diablo Immortal (and all the other mobile projects) makes way more sense if you think about how Blizzard would want to best reach that enormous audience, where PC’s are vastly outnumbered by mobile devices.

Still doesn’t explain why they decided to use BlizzCon to announce it, but the business decision makes more sense now.