Activision Blizzard held its Q4 earnings call on Thursday and among details on a number of IPs in its portfolio, a small tidbit of information about Diablo Immortal was shared with investors on the call. The much-maligned mobile title has been maintaining a bit of a low profile after a disastrous reveal back in 2018.
At Blizzcon 2018, fans who had been anticipating an announcement for Diablo 4 were instead shown the first trailer for Diablo Immortal. Reaction to the mobile spin-off was negative almost entirely across the board. This caught Blizzard off guard, perhaps not realizing just how strongly its fan base was looking for the next mainline entry in the franchise. Since then, the game has remained largely in the shadows, with only a few details emerging in 2019.
The Q4 earnings call on Thursday continues the slow drip of information on the mobile title. Activision Blizzard COO & President Coddy Johnson said on the call that Diablo Immortal “will move into the testing phase with its first regional test planned for the middle of the year.” Meaning the first chance (some) players will get to play the game will likely come in the late summer of 2020.
In addition to this little piece of information, further along on the call, CFO Dennis Durkin discussing 2020 projections says “Diablo Immortal is planned to enter regional testing towards the middle of the year, but we don’t have any material revenue from that title in our guidance.” This bit of jargon seems to indicate that despite the testing phase taking place, Activision Blizzard does not have any projections on future performance or revenue estimates on the books for Diablo Immortal in 2020. This hints that the game may not see a release in 2020. This would give the development team more time to deliver a quality product, but might also allow for competitors to hit the market before Diablo Immortal.
In the Q&A section of the call, CEO Bobby Kotick indicates that the company has conducted internal play tests since the game was shown at Blizzcon 2019. At the annual event for all things Blizzard, Diablo Immortal showcased the Ultimate Attack system, six character classes, and the equipment system. Kotick says that the upcoming regional Alpha testing will be invaluable as player feedback will help deliver “a really great Diablo experience.” After the “feedback” the company received when the first Diablo Immortal trailer was released, its is paying much closer attention to what the fans want.
After the rockiest of starts, Activision Blizzard is taking its time with Diablo Immortal. Call of Duty Mobile has been smashing download records, and the company is beginning to learn more about how the mobile gaming market works. With a testing phase planned for the middle of the year, Blizzard is looking to get it right with the mobile entry in the Diablo franchise. Fans will just have to be patient to see how this turns out.
Diablo Immortal is in development for mobile devices.
Source: Seeking Alpha
