Blizzard goes mobile-only for massively multiplayer ‘Diablo Immortal’

Blizzard announced a new Diablo game, but it’s notDiablo 4, and it’s not coming to either PC or console. The new game isDiablo Immortaland it will be coming to your phone.

Though it looks likeDiablo 3in its art style, the newDiablo Immortalwill be entirely separate and designed entirely for the smartphone. An early look at the game on the Blizzcon main stage showed familiar action-RPG gameplay with smartphone controls consisting of on-screen buttons.

The familiarity continues in the classes. Players will be able to select from the Crusader, Wizard, Monk, Demon Hunter, and Barbarian. This selection is entirely borrowed fromDiablo 3(though some classes were in earlier Diablo games, too). Not every class is coming over toDiablo Immortal, however, as the Witch Doctor is notably absent.

Though it’s a new game,Diablo Immortalis also a prequel, as it will take place between the end ofDiablo 2and beginning ofDiablo 3. About 20 in-game years passed between those two titles, leaving a lot of empty space for new stories centered on popular characters. Blizzard wasn’t firm on details about the story, but it seems to be a collection of individual smaller stories centering on a variety of settings and characters.

While the mobile game is true to the Diablo style in many ways, there is one notable departure, and that’s in multiplayer. Unlike past Diablo games,Immortalwill be massively multiplayer, with persistent outdoor zones populated by other players. This also means you won’t be limited to a four-player party but instead can form much larger dungeons. We saw up to eight players in the gameplay cinematics shown at Blizzcon.

It appears this will also have some influence on the game’s overall design, too. Blizzard’s “Diablo: What’s Next” sessions detailed how the world will include specifically designed dungeons built for parties in mind. That’s not all that different from pastDiablogames — dungeons have always been part of it — but they’ve generally been built to scale for between one to four players, and not specifically for groups.

More information is coming out Blizzcon, but one thing is clear, this isn’t a small game. There appears to be a significant amount of content forDiablo Immortal. Hopefully, that means it will be an exception to the stereotype of shallow mobile games.

Pricing and a release date were not announced, but we do know it’ll be available for iPad, iPhone, and Android.

Oh, and don’t forget,Diablo 3was just released for Switch, and it’s pretty great.