It’s beginning to look like the much-anticipated Diablo 4 will almost assuredly be announced during BlizzCon 2019. With all of the recent problems and fan disgust Blizzard has been faced with ever since the company decided to ban a Hearthstone player for protesting the Chinese government’s treatment of Hong Kong, the upcoming BlizzCon celebrations have had something of a muted anticipation cycle when compared to past years, and Blizzard’s continued censorship of Twitch viewers has done little to get them back in player’s good graces.
With last year’s unpleasantly-received Diablo Immortal reveal and a recent letter from United States politicians strongly urging Blizzard to reverse their decision regarding Hearthstone player blitzchung’s termination still hanging over their heads, the company is surely anticipating a rambunctious crowd at their upcoming annual convention. If there was ever a time to release information about the long-awaited Diablo 4, or literally any other series fans have been asking for, this is it.
If a translated advertisement found in the German magazine GameStar is to be believed, players might not have much longer to wait. As reported by CCN, an ad for an upcoming concept art print compilation, The Art of Diablo, says the book features over 500 different artworks “from Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo III, and Diablo IV.”
Although Diablo IV could be a mistranslated reference to Diablo Immortal, it’s far more likely to truly mean the next full-sized Diablo sequel. In their assessment of the news, CCN also relays a tweet from Metro, an Overwatch streamer, who stated without evidence “diablo 4 and diablo 2 remastered” are both going to be announced at BlizzCon 2019. While the validity of Metro’s sources have yet to be proven, it’s worth noting Blizzard already has a working build of Diablo 4 which has been shown to developers in their French offices, and previous reports have revealed the company is working on both Overwatch and Diablo sequels.
Blizzard canceled Overwatch’s launch event on the Nintendo Switch amid the swarm of controversy which still surrounds the company, but BlizzCon is too big an event to shut down at the last minute without sparking even more vitriol from fans. With less than two weeks away from the annual convention and tensions still high, the company needs a highly anticipated title like Diablo 4 in order to get people back on their side, and when the game finally is released hopefully it won’t be ruined by Activision/Blizzard’s need for Auction Houses and other extraneous ways to make extra money from players.
Next: Blizzard Responds to Hearthstone China Controversy (But Still Screws Up)
Source: CCN
