It’s increasingly looking as if Diablo 4 is a done deal now. The rumours have been whirling for a good few years but BlizzCon 2019 is almost assuredly the date when it becomes official. BlizzCon takes place over the weekend of November 1-2.
But, if that weren’t enough, Diablo 4 has been outed from another source. A new official Diablo artbook from Blizzard Entertainment is advertised in the latest issue issue of Germany gaming magazine GameStar. ‘The Art of Diablo’ includes more than 500 artworks from “Diablo, Diablo 2, Diablo 3, and Diablo 4”. There it is, pretty much straight from the horse’s mouth.
So, we expect Diablo IV to be officially unveiled to the world in just over one week’s time. Only, this announcement has been somewhat complicated due to recent events. Blizzard’s big plan was obviously to blow our socks off after last year’s BlizzCon ended up going down the shitter due to the Diablo Immortal, ‘haven’t you all got phones’ kerfuffle. That whole issue all seemed a bit pathetic at the time but it’s even smaller fry when we stack it up with recent events.
We’re talking about Blizzard’s high-profile banning of Hearthstone player ‘blitzchung’, of course, due to his Hong Kong pro-democracy protest. Blizzard’s Weibo account ended up issuing an apology to the Chinese government for any offence caused, and ultimately bent the knee to one of the most authoritarian governments in the world.
The blow-back has been loud, it’s been angry, and it’s been bloody obvious from a mile off. Blizzard was caught between a rock and a hard place but that’s the risk any corporation takes when it decides to operate within China. These awkward decisions were always going to arise and it all depended on how the situation was handled.
We doubt Blizzard intended for it all to come to a head just weeks before BlizzCon though. This is the biggest moment of Blizzard’s entire year and it’s set to be a fundamental embarrassment. Blizzard will be coming out all guns blazing in the hopes a stellar games line-up can quash the negative sentiment. It’s a hell of a big ask though, particularly among the core fan base. A large chunk (the vast majority perhaps) will never know or even care about Blizzard and Blitzchung, they’ll just pick up the next game which looks interesting. But the Blizzard faithful, the sort that are willing to buy tickets to BlizzCon, are going to be fuming.
The big question now is - what does it all mean? Are gamers going to boycott Blizzard in any meaningful way, or does the next big game announcement just wash away all the sins in a wave of hype?
So here’s a big question for the many Diablo fans among us here at GD: If Diablo 4 is announced next week, are you still going to buy it despite Blizzard’s recent censorship? Get voting and let us know why in the comments section below!
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PC Specs
Boycotting Blizzard because they enforced a rule at THEIR event? The person knew the rules, and the person didn't care. He knew what was going to happen when he did it. Anybody boycotting them for this are expecting too much from a gaming company. They don't want to get involved, and that's okay.
PC Specs
At least this is easy to answer...
No i will not buy Diablo 4, i consider Diablo a boring and grinding game and yes i did play the first 2 diablo, and the "starter pack" of the third. Pillars is so much better. About the ban, i had, and i still have an account on xbox live, that is an anagram intentionally studied to be offensive with most Gods and religions as possible, and never got banned even with tons of negative reports, they were not for cheating...
PC Specs
I most likely won't buy Diablo 4 with the direction the Diablo series seems to be heading. Diablo 3 was decently fun, but its linear levels and lack of character skill customization made it a weak game compared to Diablo 2.
PC Specs
I'm a little out of time on the matter. What happend?
PC Specs
The basics of it is. Censoring free speech and treating basic human rights as a controversial topic.
PC Specs
Whether I get Diablo 4 on release, latter when it is cheaper or never will entirely depend on how good game is. It likely will be same as with D3, which I got once it got cheaper and real money AH was out. But we will see, I am not that heavy on boycotting. As for Blizzcon, it will be like always, I will read news articles next day, so I guess I can't boycott anything I don't visit anyway. :-D
PC Specs
Though I am super curious how this one will go after whole fiasco. I got feeling it will be fun to follow. Especially if they don't skip audience questions. :-D
PC Specs
I'm not buying Diablo 4 just because what Blizzard did with Diablo 3. A sh***y Game from greedy company.
PC Specs
I disagree that the game was bad. It was no diablo 1 and 2, but it was a great game, at least on console which is where I played it. It's easily an 8/10 with the expansion on PS3, if you are generous a 8.5/10.
PC Specs
Or as I like to say: Diablo 3 is not a bad game. It's just bad Diablo game.
If it wasn't tied to the Diablo name it would fare way better.
PC Specs
I disagree, I'm probably one of the few that never wanted Diablo 3 to be like Diablo 1 and 2 and I was very happy with what they made for consoles at least as I wouldn't take part in always online real money auction house BS.
PC Specs
I will only buy Diablo if it's based in our world and we get to play as CCP heros who destroy the Western Scum. Long live Xi!
PC Specs
These days I think more and more about CD Project Red. They will grow so much in popularity mostly because they do things more ethical than the others, apart from the quality of their games. They should be taken as example.
PC Specs
Yes! I wish every game developer company had a store like GoG and the government backing them up yearly for years.
PC Specs
My only fear is that with time they too will eventually fall to the level of Bethesda, EA, Ubisoft, etc. Companies change and fall on the hands of greed and find everyway to exploit and suck out as much money as they humanily can. I hope that isn't the case with CDPR, but there are good evidence that they won't be going that route any time soon. Their games have been nonstop phenomenal, their GOG market platform is purely 'from gamers to gamers'.
PC Specs
I wouldn't be surprised if more gamers are boycotting gaming companies for the ****ty GAMING decisions they make, over any other reason, such as politics.
Blizzard, Activision, EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Rockstar are getting more and more hate as a result of their idiotic greedy monetization policies, and pushing unfinished broken games out. So there's already enough reason to boycott them.
Also, I don't want for gaming to be poisoned by politics.
PC Specs
Yeah, I think you are absolutely right.
PC Specs
I agree. At least Rockstar are consistently making fantastic/high quality games, along side a couple bad decisions.
PC Specs
same as Bethesda(Doom, Rage) and Ubisoft(AC) and all others they all make pretty good games but they all fck it up in the same time
PC Specs
Too bad that Rockstars high quality games are always mediocre and have been for a decade now. :/
PC Specs
That take is so cold you should stick a Flake in it
PC Specs
I thought truth was supposed to be warming. XD
PC Specs
It's not called the cold truth for nothing
PC Specs
Oh yeah XD
PC Specs
I don't care about Diablo 4, I only want Diablo 2 Remastered.
PC Specs
You speak the truth man.
PC Specs
I'll buy it if it offers an offline mode.
So, most likely no.
PC Specs
I will just pirate what i like,i don't give s...t to any of them! :)
PC Specs
I don't mix gaming and politics so I might get day one it if it is a big improvement in the genre, which otherwise has gotten somewhat stale with time. Otherwise it won't be a high prioirtiy.
PC Specs
well i'm boycotting blizzard and activision but mainly for the other reasons
PC Specs
thank god I dont have to give up destiny as part of activision/blizzard boycott
PC Specs
If it's one time purchased. And can be played offline. Then I would get it. If it's not. Forget it!