When Diablo Immortal was announced last month during BlizzCon, it left a few die-hard fans of the series, er, upset, to say the least. But then things got worse when rumors began swirling that Blizzard was set to announce Diablo IV at the show, but then pulled it at the last second. A lot of players are wondering why…and there may be an interesting answer behind it.
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Kotaku published a lengthy report earlier today talking about the state of Diablo, and the controversy that came with Immortal‘s announcement. But a factor behind Diablo IV‘s lack of announcement may have something to do with a project called Titan.
“Titan was the code-name for a brand new MMO that Blizzard started developing around 2007,” Kotaku’s author noted. “Envisioned as a cross between The Sims, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress 2, where you’d run businesses during the day and turn into a superhero at night, Titan was meant to be a different twist on the genre that Blizzard had already mastered with World of Warcraft.
“In the beginning of 2013, after a long and protracted development cycle, Blizzard canceled Titan. Part of the team went on to make Overwatch, which would become a big success, but the project became a black eye for Blizzard — a massive sink of time and money that was also, much to some people’s dismay, public knowledge. Not only had they wasted resources on this failed game — everybody knew about it. Blizzard had acknowledged the project in 2008, and its existence had been frequently hinted and asked about in the years that followed.”
So what was the concern then? “it’s fair to wonder if the team was worried about another lengthy development cycle that might end in disaster. Even the words Diablo IV might have set expectations that the developers didn’t want to establish just yet,” Kotaku noted.
One former Blizzard developer sounded off on the subject. “The Diablo team is very paranoid about saying something too soon and then getting stuck in a loop. They don’t want to show the game until they have a trailer, a demo.”
And another developer added how “Titan looms over all of us. Even though Overwatch has since gone on to huge success, he noted that “people don’t look at Titan and see a success.” (Looks like the cancellation affected it more than expected.)
Blizzard had a statement on the matter as well, per Kotaku. “In terms of unannounced games, so much can change over the course of development based on how we’re feeling about the progress and direction of the project,” the company noted. “So we try not to share details about unannounced projects before we’re ready. Our preference is to have a clear announcement plan with some concrete details and hopefully a playable demo of the game when we announce. That applies to our Diablo projects and our other games as well.”
There’s a good chance that Titan‘s development — and cancellation — changed how the publisher makes games as a whole. Obviously, some games are still running smoothly with new additions and all, but there’s a big question mark looming over Diablo, even with the recent release of Diablo III: Eternal Collection on Nintendo Switch and the just-announced Immortal.
So will we see Diablo IV? Yes, eventually, but it’s a matter of when the timing is right for Blizzard — and even with all the hype, BlizzCon just didn’t appear to be it.
You can read Kotaku’s full Diablo report here, and it’s well worth the read for fans of the series.
