Blizzard says: Diablo 4 will be a game for several years

The game studio Blizzard is currently in severe turbulence, but the earnings call paints a pink picture of the studio’s present and future: WoW is doing better than in recent years thanks to the success of WoW Classic. The development of Diablo 4 is going brilliantly, the game should work for several years after the release. Overwatch 2 development is also going great. There’s a hint: Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 could launch in the next 18 months, through February 2023.

Where is the information from? Activision Blizzard gave out information about the current status of their 4 core game series World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo and Overwatch.

The current situation around Blizzard is critical. On the day of the earnings call, Blizzard President J. Allen Brack resigned.

This is how it is with Diablo: Blizzard is singling out Diablo 4 in particular: Here it is said that one would make strong progress and expend “considerable resources” in order to create exciting game content that would keep the player in line for several years. Apparently Diablo 4 is planned as a “Games-as-a-service” title.

We are looking forward to the release of Diablo 2 Resurrected on September 23rd for PC and consoles. He is “strongly expected.” The mobile game Diablo Immortal has been postponed but is doing well and getting “excellent feedback,” says Blizzard.

Blizzard raves about WoW Classic

This is what WoW is about: At World of Warcraft, Blizzard raves that the numbers in the 2nd quarter of 2021 have grown by a “double-digit percentage” compared to the previous year. The release of the expansion “Burning Crusade” at World of Warcraft Classic is responsible for this success.

It is said: WoW also remains on course to have a significantly higher player participation in 2021 than in normal years without a new expansion.

How about Overwatch? Overwatch 2 is also reportedly developing well. An “important milestone” has been reached.

This is what Hearthstone is like: Blizzard only has words of praise for Hearthstone. Although no exact figures are given here, they speak of growth and refer to the new expansion “United in Stormwind”.

Blizzard sales are falling – Overwatch League a problem

That doesn’t fit into the pink picture: although everything is supposedly going so well at Blizzard, they have again lost 6 million players compared to the 2nd quarter of 2020: The number of monthly active users fell from 32 million (Q2 / 2020) to 26 million users (Q2 / 2021).

The actual sales figures have also fallen. Although sales at WoW have grown by a double-digit percentage, the sales figures at Hearthstone and the Overwatch league have fallen. In addition, Blizzard has invested money in the development of a “rich product pipeline” and marketing for Burning Crusade Classic.

When are Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 coming?

This is the indication of the release date for Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4: During the presentation, Blizzard emphasizes: You are facing a “significant 18 month” period of releases.

That could mean that Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 will be released by February 2023 at the latest. Then the 18 months would be over. Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 are sure to be the most important releases for Blizzard in the next few years.

Traditionally, the release windows for such blockbuster titles are from September to November of each year or from March to April. From December to February and in the warm months of May to August, large titles rarely appear:

Possible release periods for Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 would therefore be:

• Overwatch 2 in March / April 2022
• Diablo 4 between September and November 2022.