Thirdly, their conference showed the game would be mostly mobile, but other then that there isn’t a lot we know about the game as far as gameplay goes. If your product is verbally unloved by your target market, then you either need to pivot your product or pivot your target market.

This response got a collection of Boo’s from the audience and it was at this point the developer stated on stage “Do you guys not have phones?” This is where this starts to dive into PR nightmare territory when you have a product that you think is a great success, the core audience doesn’t love it, and you blame the core audience for not liking it. In a post-announcement QA, a member of the audience asked if it would ever come to PC and Console, to which the developer responded there are no plans to do so. Blizzard was shocked at all the negative buzz about the game.

Secondly, is the reaction to the announcement. Instead, the audience, being primarily PC and Console players, were given the grand presentation of a mobile game, a game that inherently does not target them as the core players. The audience was expecting a Diablo 4, or at least an announcement that is was being developed.

Gamers have been clamoring for the next step in the Diablo Franchise, and this announcement was the capstone announcement at the event. There is a myriad of reasons as to why it didn’t go over well, all of which can be represented by knowing your audience. During Blizzcon 2018, Blizzard announced a new mobile game: Diablo Immortal, that did not go over well with fans in the audience and online.

Diablo immortal announcement gameplay