Since its release on June 2, Diablo Immortal has been at the heart of several controversies. It is criticized in particular for monetization that is too present and a great difficulty when it comes to equipping oneself by playing exclusively F2P. In recent days, several famous streamers have decided to leave the game, while Maxroll has announced the complete and permanent closure of its site dedicated to Immortal.
After Asmongold, Bellular Gaming and Quin69, it’s Wudijo’s turn to abandon Blizzard’s MMOARPG. In a long video, he looks back on the evolution of the game, the feedback sent to Blizzard and then the release of the title on mobile and PC. The player is renowned for his numerous videos and guides dedicated to Diablo 3, then Diablo 2 Resurrected and Diablo Immortal more recently.
Asmongold, for his part, is disappointed with the lack of new ideas in the game, “except for the ideas that come from the monetization department”.
More recently, the community site Maxroll, active on Diablo 2/3 and Lost Ark, announced that it was simply abandoning Diablo Immortal with immediate effect. The site justifies its choice by the economic aspect of the game, the disappointment of the players or even a gameplay that does not reward the grind.
The predatory Pay-To-Win system goes well beyond what is considered the norm for mobile games. Gambling addiction is real and can completely destroy lives. Even though 99% of players have perfect impulse control, we can’t stand what happens to the other 1%. This is totally once morest our values and we will not take part in it any longer.
In practice, more than 10,000 hours of work go up in smoke. Maxroll will nevertheless continue to follow the Diablo 2/3/4 series and intends to open a section dedicated to Path of Exile soon. Current Diablo Immortal content will remain available for a while, but will no longer be updated. The updates had also been rare in recent weeks, which implied that something was happening.
At Blizzard, there is no doubt that this gradual abandonment of part of the community should make you think, just like the messages published by players on Reddit, official forums or elsewhere on the web.
Will JudgeHype abandon Diablo Immortal?
The answer is simple: no.
It will soon be 25 years since the Diablo series has been followed on JH. The other franchises joined the network gradually and for my part, it would not occur to me to abandon one of them as long as we have the human means to follow the news.
Diablo Immortal is in turmoil, but this isn’t the first time this has happened in Blizzard history. Other games have been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Everyone remembers the release of Diablo 3 and the auction house disaster. However, the game has improved with Reaper of Souls and the community now looks forward to each new season.
World of Warcraft has had some tough times and what regarding Warcraft 3? The legendary RTS was thrown into the mud with Reforged. Everyone also remembers the scandal related to sexual harassment in the premises of Blizzard Entertainment.
Each time, I thought regarding the best way to approach the situation. I’m assuming that I’m doing the JH community a disservice by dropping a game. One may dislike the monetization of Diablo Immortal, for good reason. But I also know that the situation can evolve in the right direction. The same goes for the evolution of Activision Blizzard and employee rights, topics followed regularly so as to keep you informed of the latest news, whether good or bad.
Over the past few months, Blizzard has added long-requested WoW features and restarted development of Warcraft III: Reforged. The remastered Diablo 2 Resurrected is a success and things seem to be moving in the right direction for Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, although we shouldn’t get too excited just yet.
Some visitors will probably wonder why I don’t do like Maxroll, closing the Immortal section in protest at the monetization of the game, which can lead to addictions. For my part, I prefer to approach the subject in an educational way, as when I published a loot box harm article June 2, the day Diablo Immortal is released. You’ve also been able to read other news on the best ways to stay F2P or even thoughts on whether or not to spend money in game.
I am convinced that things can evolve in the right direction for Diablo Immortal and I would be surprised if Blizzard remains deaf to the criticisms made in recent weeks. The evolution will take time, especially since other elements come into play. It’s unclear whether Blizzard is happy with the revenue generated by Immortal, or how much weight NetEase will have in future decisions.
During this troubled time, however, I want to continue to follow the title for everyone who plays it, enjoys it, or hopes that Blizzard will make many improvements to it. We’ll have a preview next week 😉
