why is blizzard working with netease for diablo immortal

But on our side, development is already fully prepared and invested.” Either way, Netease is saying they’ve finished the game, putting the ball firmly in Blizzard’s court.Several months ago, a NetEase representative revealed that all the development on the side of NetEase had been completed: “With regards to the launch of Diablo Immortal, we will announce a market launch date simultaneously with Blizzard. Or it just might be Blizzard’s typical desire to make announcements at specific key moments, like Gamescom or BlizzCon. It’s quite possible Blizzard is taking that situation to heart and they’re making sure the game - and is launch - will be perfect.

We critiqued how Blizzard handled the reveal and the PR nightmare that unfolded. It would be disingenuous for us to pretend we forgot about the reception Diablo Immortal got at BlizzCon. But getting all the details right that might not be the whole reason Activision Blizzard hasn’t given us a release date yet for the game. Still, getting things right is probably a pretty big job, especially since it’s a big multiplayer game with yet-unknown lore covering the period of time between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3.

I trust Dan O’Hallaran with my life, so if he says the game is good, I believe him. In terms of how the game is as a game, I can only point you to this review we did of the game back at BlizzCon. Since this is a licensed game set in one of Blizzard’s biggest properties, Blizzard could be ensuring it lives up to their standards, both from a gameplay perspective and a story perspective.īut we don’t actually know the state of the game. But there are plenty of reasons why Blizzard might not have given Diablo Immortal the green light just yet.

When asked about it, NetEase basically said if you want to know where the game is, ask Activision Blizzard. So we have to wonder: if the game is done, what’s the hold up? So why aren’t we playing Diablo Immortal right now? According to the NetEase Q4 earning’s call - which was translated from Mandarin by the folks at MMOCulture - the delay is on Blizzard’s end.

In addition to having revenues that would make Croesus of Lydia weep, NetEase has something else - a completed Diablo mobile game all ready to go.

Why is blizzard working with netease for diablo immortal