Diablo Immortal Preview: Everything you need to know

One of the most successful action role-playing games in history is the Diablo franchise. It reached its height of success during Diablo II and has carried over to Diablo III. The next installment in the franchise is the much-awaited Diablo Immortal, which was announced back in 2018. 

While Diablo Immortal is not yet out, Blizzard has dropped news about it here and there. So, in that regard, we have compiled everything you need to know about the upcoming Diablo game for mobile devices.

Release date

Announced in 2018, the original release date that was set for Diablo Immortal was supposed to be in 2019. It was announced back in February of 2019 that it was “pretty much ready” and that it was going to be released worldwide later that year, even though the people behind the game never really stated an official release date.

However, 2019 passed and the game was never released that year. It was confirmed during the latter portion of 2019 that the game was still in development, which meant that it was never ready to be released for 2019. Still, Blizzard said that it would take a lot of time for them to develop the game so that they could reach the standards that they expected. They also said that because of the “ambitious goals” they had for Diablo Immortal, they would take as long as they need to develop the game and to get it ready for a proper release.

In July 2020, Blizzard released a new trailer for Diablo Immortal coinciding with China Joy. The Chinese trailer included six playable classes and a returning antagonist named Baal, who played an important role in the classic game Diablo II and its expansion.

While the trailer was indeed a huge step in the development of the game as it not only gave fans some hope – especially because of the improved graphics – there still was no official release date that was announced. It is widely believed that it will be released during the middle portion or even the latter part of 2021 as an alpha version has begun rolling out. We are not ruling out the possibility of its release being extended into 2022, but the earliest that we can see it might be the second quarter of 2021.

Gameplay

Unlike the other games, Diablo Immortal takes a huge step into making it a bigger and more ambitious game because it is now a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game that requires an internet connection. You are going to play with hundreds or even thousands of other players at the same time. This is a stark difference in comparison to the older Diablo games that may have been multiplayer games but was vastly limited in terms of how many players could play at the same time.

Unlike the previous games – which were designed for the PC and consoles – Diablo Immortal is played on mobile devices. It was designed to be played using touchscreen controls instead of relying on the usual mouse-and-keyboard controls for PC and controller on consoles.

While touchscreen controls aren’t new, Diablo Immortal is going to make use of an on-screen thumb joystick while allowing you to use skills by tapping the ability buttons. That means that its controls will probably be similar to the popular MMO games we have on mobile today such as Mobile Legends and League of Legends: Wild Rift.

The gameplay mechanics of Diablo Immortal will probably have the same features as Black Desert Mobile. It is also projected that Diablo Immortal will have the same kind of experience and target market as the successful Black Desert Mobile game due to their similarities in gameplay.

Diablo Immortal’s story is set between Diablo II and Diablo III. So, if you have played both of those games, you would be able to completely understand the setting and story of Diablo Immortal since it bridges the two previous Diablo games’ stories.

Characters

As of now, the only confirmed character in Diablo Immortal is the returning Diablo II major antagonist Baal, who saw more screen time in the Diablo II expansion Lord of Destruction. It is expected that more details about the characters that will be featured in the game will be released once we get an official release date.

Character classes

Diablo Immortal features six distinct character classes to stay true to the tradition of the game. The character classes are Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Necromancer, Demon Hunter, and Crusader.

For those who have played the previous games, some of these character classes will be familiar to you. But Blizzard has said that they have built the game from the ground up, which means that the character classes have entirely new abilities compared to previous games.

Each character class has four distinct abilities that are unique to the class. However, the long-term plan is for each class to have a maximum of 12 different abilities while only five of them can be used concurrently.

Devices

Diablo Immortal is a mobile game with touchscreen controls. That means that it will be available to all Android and iOS devices as long as the devices used can handle the system requirements of the game. While the Nintendo Switch does indeed have touchscreen capabilities, it is yet to be confirmed whether or not it will come to the system. Fingers crossed!

Also, there are no announcements as to whether or not ported versions on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox consoles are either planned or in the works. So, as of now, you should only expect Diablo Immortal to be available on Android and iOS devices.

Will Diablo Immortal be free to play?

As to pricing, there is no news as to how Blizzard will be selling Diablo Immortal. What traditional fans are hoping for is a premium mobile game: a one-time payment with no additional in-game purchases or payments whatsoever to make the playing field equal.

However, considering how lucrative the mobile MMO market is when it comes to in-app purchases, it is more likely that Diablo Immortal will be a “free-to-play” game that will feature in-app purchases. Again, though, it is not known which route they are going.

Will Diablo Immortal be pay to win?

Again, there are no announcements regarding the payment scheme or the pricing for Diablo Immortal. But odds are that it is going to be free to play. Considering that the MMO market is lucrative when it comes to in-game purchases, Diablo Immortal could very well become a pay-to-win game where those who are willing to pay more are going to be able to see more success in the game.

Still, fans are hoping for the pay-to-win aspect of the game to not give huge advantages to those who are willing to pay more for the game. Instead, if it does go the free-to-play route, fans are hoping for purchases to be geared more towards cosmetics and skins instead of items that can boost the advantage of paying players over free-to-play players.