Blizzard Says Diablo 4 Announcement Was Never Planned for BlizzCon 2018

Blizzard Entertainment’s annual convention, BlizzCon, is designed to help the company inform, entertain, and connect with fans. But rather than remain a celebration of Blizzard’s IPs and community, BlizzCon 2018 quickly devolved into a source of frustration for people disappointed by the announcement of Diablo Immortal, a free-to-play game exclusive to mobile platforms. A report by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier indicated that a teaser video was for Diablo 4 was created and planned for BlizzCon 2018, but pulled at the last minute. Now, Blizzard has issued a statement stating that is untrue.

While Schreier stood by the facts he heard, he admitted the timing is up for debate. His investigation turned up information that stated a video was recorded in which Blizzard Co-Founder Allen Adham spoke to fans about a new Diablo project. Schreier’s clarification came last night, following Blizzard’s statement on the matter.

Here is Blizzard’s statement.

First off we want to mention that we definitely hear our community. We generally don’t comment on rumors or speculation, but we can say that we didn’t pull any announcements from BlizzCon this year or have plans for other announcements. We do continue to have different teams working on multiple unannounced Diablo projects, and we look forward to announcing when the time is right.

It may seem like a small detail, but this clarification is important considering the state of the Diablo community immediately following Diablo Immortal. Leading up to BlizzCon 2018, rumors swirled around what could be next for the series. Even with rumors debunked, hopes were still high.

Many fans voiced frustration over the lack of a Diablo 4 teaser, despite Blizzard’s original mention of multiple Diablo projects in the works and a reminder that stated these projects will be announced “when the time is right.” Those who were upset within the Diablo community often cited Bethesda’s conference at E3 2018 as the proper way to go about things, as that company followed up an announcement of a free-to-play mobile game, The Elder Scrolls: Blades, with a teaser for their next mainline entry, The Elder Scrolls VI. But Blizzard’s clarification shows they never had that format in mind.

It’s unclear whether Blizzard’s claim that it was never planning on announcing Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2018 will help or hurt its standing in the eyes of the community.

[Source: Kotaku]