In an GDC 2021 panel, Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse (previously Mihoyo) outright admitted that the way it created characters was focused on generating most money possible from its audience. In the case of Raiden Shogun as well as Kokomi characters that D2R Items were reruns in March 2022 alone earned the company more than $33 million in revenues.
The moment was immortalized through humorous memes and mockery, the majority of it rooted in disappointment of the audience: People who attended BlizzCon 2018 were anticipating "Diablo 2 Resurrected" news. But the reason for this was an old stigma about smartphones and games played in the West, where adoption of smartphones as a gaming platform has been slower than the rest of the world.
Since that time, "Diablo 2 Resurrected" has increased its popularity, since test results from beta and alpha versions proved the game was an intense, timeless Diablo experience. (It was also helpful that Blizzard chose to bring it to PC.) This Diablo series is among the most influential examples of modern game design, with its renowned games that focus on the acquisition of randomized "loot" to make your role-playing character more efficient. "Diablo 2," released in the last few months and revamped, has firmly established this loop. Likewise "Diablo 3," which Cheng was also working on, improved and streamlined it.
While the events of 2018 were challenging for Cheng and the team, he claimed it only strengthened their resolve to make "Immortal" as a game worthy from the Diablo series. Its game is completely free to play on mobile, which brings the franchise to its biggest possible audience to date. The game is scheduled to launch on June 2.
Cheng's enthusiasm was palpable during a recent interview. "I do believe that 'Diablo: Immortal' is going to alter a lot of people's minds on what they consider to be the mobile version of a game," Cheng told The Washington Post. "That was one of our goals right from the beginning. Let's raise the standard of the quality of games that are mobile."
"I have three kids and they're all teenagers and they don't make the same distinction between consoles, computers or mobile devices," Cheng said. "They are avid gamers on all sorts of platforms."
The game is set to see simultaneous launch on PC with full keyboard-and mouse and controller support, in addition to cross-play and cross progression with mobile support at launch. This move was inspired by the beta test when game content creators stated they'd have to play the game in order to show the D2 Resurrected Ladder Items game on their streaming platforms as per Rod Fergusson, general manager of the Diablo franchise.