Blizzard Responds to Rumors That Diablo Immortal is a Reskinned Netease Game

Blizzard says Diablo Immortal is built from the "ground up."

News by Matt Kim, News Editor

Updated on 2 November 2018

Is Diablo Immortal a reskin of an existing NetEase mobile game? That's what some fans are saying after footage comparing the two mobile games surfaced online shortly after today's Blizzcon announcement.

Following today's announcement of Diablo Immortal, a new Diablo mobile game for iOS and Android developed in part by Chinese mobile developer Netease, online gaming communities began posting footage of a previous NetEase mobile game that looks suspiciously like the Diablo Immortal gameplay footage revealed today. In response to these accusations Blizzard issued the following statement:

"Blizzard, in partnership with NetEase, has built Diablo Immortal from the ground up for iOS/Android."

The gameplay footage currently making its way online is from a 2016 NetEase action RPG called Endless of God which features a similar isometric perspective and dark fantasy aesthetic as Diablo. What's more, both Endless of God and Diablo Immortal feature a similar UI layout.

It's perhaps unfair to call Diablo Immortal a reskin. One commenter online posted an image of Diablo Immortal gameplay with several other mobile games from Japan and they all feature similar UI design. Rather than proof Diablo Immortal is a reskin of an existing NetEase game, it shows just how similar the UI is across many different mobile games, especially those from East Asia.

...Immortal is literally every overhead gacha beat-em-up that Japan released in the last two years already, except the word Diablo is stickered on top. pic.twitter.com/7tJvWccksx
— Mom (@truongasm) November 2, 2018

Fan reaction to today's Diablo Immortal news has been largely negative as fans were expecting a more mainline Diablo game like Diablo 4. Even though Blizzard released a statement in the weeks prior to this year's Blizzcon tempering fan expectations for the oncoming Diablo announcement. At the time Blizzard wrote, "'good things come to those who wait,' but evil things often take longer."

This hasn't stopped the Diablo fan communities from downvoting the Diablo Immortal announcement trailer which currently has 40k downvotes compared 1.9k upvotes. For more, check out our full Blizzcon 2018 coverage.

Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. See our terms & conditions.

Matt Kim

News Editor

Matt Kim is a former freelance writer who's covered video games and digital media. He likes video games as spectacle and is easily distracted by bright lights or clever bits of dialogue. He also once wrote about personal finance, but that's neither here nor there.