Diablo Immortal postponed to first half of 2022

Diablo Immortal, Blizzard’s mobile version of its iconic action RPG franchise, will now be released in the first half of 2022. The game was previously scheduled for release in 2021.

The game has undergone closed Alpha testing, with Blizzard stating in a new blog post that the community has been a “key contributor” as the development team shapes its vision for Diablo Immortal. Based on player feedback, Blizzard is looking to implement a number of improvements to the game, such as making endgame PvE content more engaging, providing controller support, and iterating on PvP content like the Cycle of Strife. .

“However, these additional changes and opportunities to improve our gaming experience will not be realized within the 2021 timeframe that we previously communicated,” Blizzard said. “So the game is now slated for release in the first half of 2022, which will allow us to add substantial improvements to the overall game.”

Blizzard goes on to describe some changes that will be made to the game. Regarding PvE, Diablo Immortal will be winning new eight-player raids, while adjusting the game’s current bounty system and making Challenge Rifts more rewarding. On the PvP side, Blizzard will be tweaking various aspects of the game’s Battlegrounds system as well as the faction-based Cycle of Strife. Global changes to the game’s progression systems, like the Paragon system, and the weekly XP cap will also be coming.

While Diablo Immortal will no longer be released in 2021, the remastered Diablo 2: Resurrected is still set to release on September 23 on consoles and PC. Diablo 4 remains in development and currently does not have a release window.

The Diablo Immortal delay comes as Blizzard faces the fallout from a lawsuit in the state of California that alleges Activision Blizzard fosters a culture where sexual discrimination and harassment is far too common. In response to statements from Activision Blizzard that CEO Bobby Kotick called “deaf,” thousands of current and former Blizzard employees signed an open letter demanding a change and went so far as to stage a walkout. In light of the lawsuit allegations, Blizzard Chairman J. Allen Brack has announced he will be leaving the company.