Diablo Immortal delayed in China days before launch, amid furore over loot boxes

Diablo Immortal, Blizzard’s controversial mobile game entry in its famous action-RPG series, has had its release in China delayed just days before it was due to launch.

The launch had been set for June 23, but a post on June 19 by the game’s co-developer and local publisher NetEase said that it needed to make further “optimizations”, including support for more devices and network and performance improvements. The launch was despite it having been technically flawless in the West, Japan and South Korea since the beginning of June.

Blizzard has updated the status of the launch to indicate that it was now delayed to July 7. “We believe that our players will benefit from optimization that would make the download and playing experience much smoother,” it said, detailing a few changes that would be made. These include changes to the order in which mobile devices download data while you install and play, and optimizations to support the “very diverse” install base of Android phones in China. The region’s players will receive a compensation package that includes gear and crafting materials.

There are many questions that will be raised about the possible causes of this delay. Analyst in the industry Daniel Ahmad pointed outThe move will take place within a few days. Diablo Immortal’s account on China’s major social media platform, Weibo, was banned from making new posts. Weibo said the ban was for “violation of related laws and regulations.”

It’s reasonable to wonder if the game is headed for regulatory hot waters in China. Diablo ImmortalIts monetization strategy, some claim is abusive, has been a source of intense criticism. According to reports, it could cost as much as $110,000 per character to max out via microtransactions. Streamer Quin69 spent $15,000You can only acquire one legend gem that has a 5 star rating. There are 6 legendary gem slots per character. Then, you have to destroy the gem in protest. It has been blocked in Belgium and the Netherlands, as strict gambling laws prohibit loot boxes from being used in online gaming.

China currently has an extremely restrictive regulatory environment for video gaming, and the government actively opposes the industry. Gaming companies are losing their way due to restrictions placed on minors’ spending and a ban on new licenses being granted. China’s laws on loot boxes are not as strict as the Dutch and Belgian legislation, though — they just require drop rates to be disclosed, and place a cap on the number of daily purchases.

Diablo ImmortalIt has been designed with China as a major focus. This huge market is dominated by free-to-play mobile phone games, and Blizzard enlisted Chinese company NetEase as a co-developer to help it tailor Diablo’s core gameplay to these devices and this business model. It would be both ironic, and a serious blow to the game’s fortunes, if the game was denied release there.

However, there are signs that things could be worse. Diablo ImmortalAlready a hit, it is very popular. Data from Appmagic (via Pocket Gamer) suggests that it made $24 million in revenue in its first two weeks on mobiles — not counting its PC version. Blizzard claims it has been downloaded 10 million times, making it the biggest launch in the Diablo series’ history.