If you thoughtDiablo 4would be a nail in the coffin for its mobile-focused counterpartDiablo Immortal, think again. Inan interview with RPS,Diablo 4executive producer Rod Fergusson explains that the popularity ofDiablo Immortalhas only increased since the release ofDIablo 4.
“One of the things that we were kind of nervous about initially was that whenDiablo 4landed it would sort of cannibaliseImmortal, and that everyone was just going to be, ‘Oh we’re just playingImmortaluntilDiablo 4comes out’,”Fergusson told RPS at Gamescom. “In fact, it was the opposite. With each beta we did forDiablo 4, the more people started playingImmortal. Then onceD4launched, the same thing.Immortalcontinues to be successful, so we found that because that idea of playing on my couch in my living room or at my desk vs I’m playing on my phone in the car or while I’m waiting for my coffee or whatever, there was a place for both games to co-exist and they co-exist well.””
The first part of this isn’t much of a surprise. It makes sense that players hyped forD4would be looking to play a similar title as the release approached. But what is shocking is that even after its launch, the popularity ofImmortalhas continued to increase.
Are players happy withImmortalor unhappy withDiablo 4?
Personally,Immortalwas way too gimmicky and cash-grabby for me. That being said, it’s hard to argue that gameplay-wise it felt better than I had expected for a mobile title.
Immortalalso recently released thefirst new class in theDiablofranchise in over a decade. I have to admit, the class looks fun and unique, so part of the uptick in players forImmortalis people trying the new class.
In all fairness though, this may be more attributed toplayers current unhappiness with the state ofDiablo 4.Hopefully, we continue seeing improvements withD4with Season 2, Season of Blood, which starts on October 17.
