Diablo Immortal Delayed

The mobile Diablo video game Diablo Immortal has officially been delayed from its previous release timeframe of some point this year to "the first half of 2022" in order to address and incorporate feedback from the title's recent technical alpha and generally provide a more polished experience, Blizzard Entertainment announced. The press release announcing the delay indicates that the developers want to make sure that they get the mobile Diablo spinoff right, which makes sense given that many fans were disappointed in the initial reveal back in 2018.

"Following feedback provided by test participants of the Closed Alpha, our team has been tuning core and endgame features," the official update from Blizzard Entertainment reads in part. "For example, we're iterating on PvP content like the Cycle of Strife to make it more accessible, alongside late-game PvE content like the Helliquary to make it more engaging. We're also working to provide controller support for those who want to play our game in a different way. However, these changes and additional opportunities to improve our gameplay experience will not be realized in the 2021 timeframe we had previously communicated. So, the game is now planned for release in the first half of 2022, which will allow us to add substantial improvements to the whole game."

It is worth noting that the announcement of the delay follows the recent California lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over sexual harassment and discrimination against women, with Blizzard Entertainment specifically cited a number of times, and the overall company continues to deal with the very public fallout from it. The delay announcement also coincided with Activision Blizzard releasing and discussing the quarter's financial results.

As noted above, Diablo Immortal is now set to release for mobile devices during "the first half of 2022" as compared to the previous 2021 timeframe. The title is developed by Blizzard Entertainment in partnership with NetEase. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the upcoming Diablo title right here.

What do you think about the new delay for Diablo Immortal? Are you interested in checking it out when it releases in 2022? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!