Blizzard Assures Fans They Are a PC Developer First

Blizzcon is right around the corner, which means that Blizzard is being more self-congratulatory than usual in preparation for their upcoming stroke fest. And while fans are usually super-eager to help appease Blizzard’s ego, this year they’re feeling a bit more cautious: after all, last year the event culminated in the not-very-well accepted reveal of Diablo Immortal, a mobile spin-off of the popular hack-and-slash series.

So to get people back on the bandwagon, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack went the rounds to assure both game publications and their readers that they learned their lesson and that 1) this year will be better, and 2) their loyalty has been, and always will be, to the PC master race.

"I think the thing that we did a poor job of when we announced Diablo: Immortal was contextualizing what we think the future can be and what we think of mobile in particular. And I also think the key thing that was lost, that we did a poor job double emphasizing, is we are a PC developer first. And then we look for other platforms that we think are awesome that can support the types of game play experiences that resonate with the type of games and values that we want to put forth into the world. And the example of that is, there was a little bit of a backlash when we [announced] that we were going to port Diablo 3 to console as well."

He went on to emphasize that their mobile games, while they might not be as good as their PC offerings, will still feel like a ‘Blizzard’ game.

"If you're a core PC gamer, then there are not an insignificant number of mobile games that don't have a great reputation. We've seen these games, and we've played these games. We've played games that we feel like are predatory when it comes to monetization, that are not the most fun experience that we could imagine, and not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's hard [for people] to see how Blizzard is still Blizzard on that platform."

Which, when you consider the Diablo Auction House and the Overwatch Loot Boxes hardly disqualifies predatory mobile practices.

So… there’s that.