Blizzard stated today that there would be no D4 (or OW2) release this year in the earnings call. Not surprising but sometimes hope springs eternal.
See:
Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV won’t release until 2022 | VentureBeat
Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 aren’t launching this year - The Verge
Diablo 4, Overwatch 2 Won’t Launch In 2021, But New Call Of Duty Confirmed And Another Remaster - GameSpot
Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 won’t be released in 2021, Activision Blizzard says - Polygon
The polygon link (the last one) mentioned that ActiBlizz did acknowledge that another remaster was in the works. The identity was not announced but speculation includes D2R.
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Thy could probably already say Not 2022 too. For D4 at least. A bit surprising for OW2, wasnt that just supposed to be a small “expansion” framed as a new game. Maybe they decided to change that.
Haven’t heard the earnings call yet, but supposedly they also said that remastered games were coming.
Aka. D2R.
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Honestly, anyone expecting Diablo 4 to be released in 2021 in a completed and/or polished state, is overly optimistic imo.
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2022 is a WoW expansion year.
My guess now would be
2021: Diablo Immortal + WoW Classic TBC
2022: D2R+ OW2 + WoW expansion
2023: Diablo 4 + WoW Classic Wotlk
Not that they cant/wont release 3 new games in the same year, but, I bet they want to space releases out a little bit, at least.
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2012 was an expansion year as well.
Thanks for the Summary and links.
About what I expected. I do NOT think Venture Beat has the headline right on 2022 though for D4.
Also mentioned in the call, that they had record growth and revenue over the last year - best in all the 30 years.
Although, pretty much all the gaming/entertainment companies did pretty good this year with people staying home and needing things to do.
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My bet’s holiday 2022 for a D4 release. I just have this feeling in my loins.
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I hope they show us Diablo 2 Remaster at BlizzOnline
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Any link to the transcript from call?
Yeah 2023 is about the earliest that I would expect for Diablo 4.
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I didn’t say Diablo cant release same year as a WoW expansion. Only that it seems likely OW2 will release before D4. And 3 major releases in the same year would be a lot.
Sounds like EA disappointed. Not that it should be surprising, since it is EA.
Yeah, I’d buy that. My guess have been Q4 22 or early 23 for a long time. This doesn’t really change it much, except pushing me more toward 23.
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Nov 2022 - Feb 2023 is my prediction for Diablo 4.
I have no idea when to expect the Diablo 2 remake, but as far as I’m concerned it can’t come soon enough. As the greatest video game of all time, I’m more excited for it than D4.
Diablo Immortal… whatever/whenever, I don’t care. I’ve read a lot of reviews on this already and every one said the same thing - an amazing mobile game, but ultimately nothing more than playing D3 on your phone. I have no desire to play D3 on my phone when I can play it on PC, and I’m slowly losing the desire to do that as well (after 9 years).
This might be the biggest thing from the earnings call, although not Diablo related:
- Multiple initiatives underway to experience WoW on a more consistent basis and on more platforms than ever before.
- Multiple Warcraft teams working on new content initiatives across platforms.
WoW on console 17 years later?
- The team has made multiple mobile free to play Warcraft experiences and they are now in advanced development, based on the franchise IP. This will create opportunities for existing players and new fans to experience the Warcraft universe in entirely new ways.
Or just more Dont you guys have phones moments.
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WoW mobile Pet Battles should have been their first announced Mobile game (IMHO) and would make bank. People have been begging for it for years and a lot of PokemonGo folks also play WoW. All good.
I think D:I will do well. We always knew that. The PR failure that was announcing it at Blizzcon though in front of the hardcore PC audience was not great, to put it mildly.
Hopefully they have learned from that and future announcements are targeted to the right customer groups.
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Ya a 2021 release was definitely a pipe-dream. But i still think it could go into alpha at the end of this year and release middle 2022. I think people saying 2023 are just being pessimistic based on D3’s delays.
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You mean realistic given the usual timeline between Blizz announcing a game and release? Esp with work from home Pandemic slow downs?
Yeah… I have been saying late 2021 MIGHT see an Alpha, but now I suspect early 2022. It kind of depends on when Blizzcon ends up being. heh. That, in part, does impact some of the phases that go public. I am betting on late 2022 or mid 2023 for release.
We will likely get a remaster/remake to hold us over for the Franchise.
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Oh, I certainly dont disagree with that.
That would make a lot of sense.
My impression is that pet battles in-game is not particularly popular, but since it is connected to selling pets for real money, likely still worth it. I personally like the WoW pet battle stuff, and although I dont really play games on phones, a WoW battle pet spinoff would seem much more appropriate for mobile gaming than an A-RPG does.
What are you talking about? You can’t sell pets for real money without risking getting banned.
But yeah, a pet battle spinoff or side app would be well received. Those are short matches well suited for a phone or tablet and for being busy on the go somewhere.
No I mean, the pets Blizzard sell in their stores can be used in pet battles. So people who are really into pet battles have a direct way to spend more money, unlike most activities in WoW.
Even if only a small portion of WoW players like pet battles, and an even smaller part like it enough to buy pets to use in pet battles, that might still be enough to keep pushing pet battle content.
no. pessimistic because the average time of a blizz official announcement and game release is closer to 3 years, not 4. D3 took 4 because of multiple 6 month delays.
they specifically said the pandemic didn’t slow down D4’s production timeline. But i can’t speak for any of their other current games.
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