Early this morning, Blizzard announced their first game specifically made for mobile, Diablo Immortal. The game will be a "fully-fledged action RPG" that can be played on-the-go and will take players on a journey that bridges the gap between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3.
After the destruction of the corrupted World Stone by archangel Tyrael at the end of Diablo 2, fragments of the stone survived. Diablo Immortal will explore the stories of characters as they deal with the corruption left behind by Bale, the Lord of Destruction. Blizzard says that we will see stories surrounding characters like: Deckard Cain, Malthael, and even the backstory behind the Demon Hunters.
Check out the new cinematic below:
Diablo Immortal will allow players to play six classes familiar to Diablo players: Crusader, Necromancer, Demon Hunter, Barbarian, Wizard, and Monk. With the game planning to be expanded through live-content patches, Blizzard confirmed that they will be adding more classes over time. Blizzard even hinted at the possible introduction of classes like Witch Doctor and Assassin.
In terms of gear, legendaries are back! The mechanic is carrying over from Diablo 3 - allowing players continue to enjoy customisable gameplay and grinding for the perfect gear set.
Blizzard also says that they "want more people to join the Blizzard community," and with Diablo Immortal being described as a "social game", players will be able to connect their Battle Net accounts to the game.
As a massively multiplayer online game, friends will be able to join games and help players defeat particularly tough foes or even mess around in Diablo Immortal's nine new public zones to be released at launch. Players will travel places like the haunted temples of Bilefen, the Forgotten Tower, as well as the game's capital city of Westmarch.
Blizzard says that the mobile game will have shared public zones as well as instanced dungeons that allow for a four-player experience.
Blizzard is working in collaboration with Chinese technology company, NetEase. The company has been working with Blizzard for almost 10 years to license many of Blizzard's games in China.
However, there have been some mixed opinions from fans over Diablo's new iteration, with some fans worrying that the mobile format will mean microtransactions. While other fans were hoping for a Diablo remake instead.
Diablo Immortal will be available on Android and iOS and for those that want to try out the game before its release, Blizzard is accepting applications for future beta tests.
For more information about Diablo Immortal make sure to visit the official website.
