Blizzard responds as fans call Diablo Immortal a reskin

Last night Blizzard announced Diablo Immortal, a mobile game set in between the second and third games in the action-RPG series. Given the mixed reaction from fans, it's clear that the community was hoping for something a little different (with one fan going as far as directly asking the devs whether it was an out of season April fools joke).

Adding fuel to the fire comes reports from people over on Battle.net comparing Immortal to an existing game by NetEase, the studio partnering with Blizzard on this mobile endeavour, called Crusaders of Light. Having had a quick look at both, it's true that there are some similarities between the games (in particular in the UI).

Blizzard did have a response to the overall reaction from the community and the reskin accusations, and speaking to IGN Blizzard's Wyatt Cheng said that he didn't "think mobile should be a dirty word", adding that mobile devices are able to offer "top tier gaming experiences."

"We've been working with NetEase Games from the beginning as a partnership to create everything in Diablo: Immortal," Cheng then said with regards to the accusations. "We have artists on our side, they have artists on their side, and we work together as a team, as a partnership to create everything about Diablo: Immortal. The environments, the characters, the skills, the story."

We've played Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon and will share our thoughts on the game in due course.