Diablo Immortal is quickly becoming one of the most infamous titles of 2018, and it’s not even out. Since its debut, fans have been livid about the game with journalists and game developers criticizing fans for being “entitled” and other negative things. However, Mark Kern, who led the team behind World of Warcraft and help develop some of Blizzard’s other acclaimed titles such as Starcraft and Diablo II, took the side of the gamers stating that Blizzard has lost touch with gamers. With a series of tweets, Kern explained how the announcement leading up to Diablo Immortal was poorly planned and Blizzard should’ve expected the backlash. Blizzard gamers are not smugly "entitled." Nor are they toxic, and they most certainly are not made about a mobile version of Diablo because they hates the wemyzn (the craziest blue-check theory I've seen so far). — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 Since I was producer on Diablo 2, a lot of people have been asking for my thoughts on the whole "Diablo Immortal" fiasco. I hate to say it, but what you are seeing is Blizzard not understanding gamers anymore. — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 There is nothing wrong with having a mobile version of Diablo. In fact, I would have wanted one as an option. But the way it was hinted at, and presented, and the failure of Blizzard management to predict the backlash caught me my surprise. Blizzard used to be really gamer driven — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 Blizzard coyly played up the Diablo hype, which is a good move, but failed to anticipate that their PC based audience was going to expect…well…a PC based announcement. And that following all that hype up with a *different* product is a huge bait-n-switch feeling moment. — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 Blizzard has said now, that they are working on multiple Diablo projects. They really should have dropped a teaser for their PC based project alongside their mobile announcement if that's the case. — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 But what is really telling, is that this *surprised* them. They were expecting backlash, but they didn't have a plan for it. They didn't predict the wave. Any Diablo gamer could have simply TOLD you what would happen if you asked. — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 Blizzard never used to have to ask, because it was made up of hard core gamers from top to bottom. We used to say we were our own harshest audience for our games. I would have had a line of devs outside my door telling me this was a bad move. — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 Kern also talked about how “blaming” customers for not liking a product will lead to negative consequences down the line. As for mainstream game journalists, they ARE blaming gamers, and so are a lot of know-nothing devs in mobile and indie. To them I say: be prepared to lose a lot of customers and money. Because it's never right to blame your customers for your own PR blunders and learn nothing. — Mark Kern (@Grummz) November 4, 2018 It’s hard to argue against Kern, he is right. Many fans who attended BlizzCon are PC gamers who expected news relating to the platform. To end on a mobile announcement for one of the most acclaimed PC franchises of all time was just asking for trouble. Microsft and Bethesda both announced their own mobile titles relating to major franchises such as Gears of War and The Elder Scrolls but followed up with announcements with announcements that many were expecting. Whether it was Gears of War 5 and The Elder Scrolls VI.
