Maybe Immortal is a perfect indication of what’s to come, or maybe it’s not at all. It certainly felt like the main course was missing from dinner after Diablo: Immortal was given top billing at BlizzCon, but it’s a claim Blizzard denies – which is the equivalent of being thrown a rope to pull yourself out of quicksand, but instead choosing to light the rope on fire.Īnd we still don’t know. Strangely, a recent Kotaku report suggests the studio may have been planning some kind of teaser announcement video for Diablo 4 before deciding to hold it. Blizzard could have shown a blank screen with “DIABLO 4” spelled out in Comic Sans and said “we have no idea how long this will take to make” during the BlizzCon opening ceremony and it would likely have let people swallow the Immortal pill much easier.

People weren’t exactly thrilled about Gears POP! or Blades, but they also didn’t get mad about them because they weren’t being presented as the main event.

Like Bethesda, Nintendo had essentially nothing to show for that announcement, but the knowledge that bigger games existed at all was apparently enough. Even Nintendo used this tactic last year, showing nothing more than a logo for Metroid Prime 4 before announcing the 3DS remake Metroid: Samus Returns – and we haven’t heard anything about Metroid Prime 4 since then, but fans at least know it's coming.

Microsoft had a similar moment at E3, announcing the Gears POP! mobile game right before Gears 5.

Diablo immortal blizzcon panel