Diablo Immortal Is “Not Trying to Replicate the PC Experience”

It’s hard to think of many games in recent years that have suffered as much backlash as Diablo Immortal has– and Diablo Immortal isn’t even out yet. A mobile-only title in a series that made its name with PC audiences, being announced at BlizzCon in the spot that would ordinarily be occupied by their biggest and most high-profile titles- it’s not hard to see why people didn’t take kindly to the way it was announced.

But according to Blizzard president J. Allen Brack, the fact that Diablo Immortal doesn’t appeal to the series’ veteran fanbase isn’t a knock against it, because he feels not every game has to appeal to every single demographic. According to Brack, Diablo Immortal is a game meant for mobile audiences, where it will attempt to bring the Blizzard experience in an appropriate way, but won’t be trying to replicate the PC experiences of Diablo titles.

“I don’t think it’s a requirement that we try to make every game work and speak to every single player,” said Brack in an interview with GamesBeat. “If you’re not a mobile gamer — our goal is to get you to try it and give it a chance, but every game is not going to be for every person. The mobile device is its own platform, similar to PC, similar to console. ”

“If you think about the different games you have on console, there’s a bit of a different flavor to a lot of games you have on console than you have with hardcore PC games,” he continued. “It’s going to be different. It’s going to be a good, authentic experience for the Blizzard games we bring to that platform, but it’s not trying to replicate the PC experience.”

Diablo Immortal is due out for iOS and Android devices, but it doesn’t currently have a release date- even though developers NetEase say the game is “pretty much ready”.